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Free-to-print games that might actually be worth printing
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Steve -
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Yeah, free games are cool - and we all appreciate efforts to keep the cost of the gaming hobby down. But the fact remains some games are better than others, and printer ink isn't cheap. So, I know there are several lists that just list free games, but, what are the really *good* free games? (I've also selected a sorting by rank, so we'll see what happens  )
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The items in this GeekList are ordered by average rating
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Posted Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:54 pm
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Robert Carroll
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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Battle Leader Tactics (BLT)
From the Rules:
"Have you ever wanted to match the tactical brilliance of Napoleon versus the charismatic sheer will to succeed of Alexander the Great? Do you want to see how Caesar’s ingenuity flourishes with the use of mechanized infantry or missiles? How about seeing Genghis Kahn flying in low over the steppes to terrorize his opponents with attack helicopters? Go into battle with some of the most feared and successful military leaders of all time. Use the same tactics they used to win their battles. Fight with the military forces revered throughout history. All this is possible with the abstract wargame--Battle Leader Tactics (BLT)."
BLT is a component and introductory game for the Battles Leaders Tactics & Technology (BLTT) master game. BLTT is an abstract wargame that depicts some of the greatest military leaders (e.g., Alexander, Napoleon, Caesar, etc.) commanding historical units in some of the world most decisive battles (e.g., Megiddo, Zama, Hastings, Waterloo, etc.) using proven tactics of history. BLT serves as a basic game introducing players to the interaction between army units, leaders and tactics. BLT allows players to command standard troops (e.g, infantry, cavalry, artillery and guard) and special military units (e.g., 300 Spartans, Panzer Army Afrika, etc.) with historic military leaders using real tactics and fog of war--all without any dice. The primary resolution engine for the game is housed in the Tactics Results Chart (TRC), which compares tactics selected by the players and determines losses, if any, of army units.
Components:
21 Leader Cards
24 Tactics Cards (12 for each player)
28 Army Cards (14 for each player)
10 Special Army Cards
1 Tactics Results Chart
1 Rules Booklet
1 Leader Card Explanation Sheet
Available on BGG.
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2.
Board Game: 1886
[Average Rating:8.00 Unranked]
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James Hemsley
United States
Iowa City
Iowa
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Stumbled across this one. Big thanks to the two guys who translated it from Japanese!! Files are on the game page.
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Chuck Cothran
United States
Wilmington
North Carolina
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This game is not listed as free to print, but I found all the items. Either at the GMT site or at the designer's site. Just burrow through the BBG Links and you'll be able to make your own copy.
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Michael Lewis
United States
Unspecified
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This one looks real nice, and plays decent. Nothing terribily new, but it all works well together.
I translated the rules from French, and am still getting the bugs out of the translation.
Awful lot of gold mines in Canada though.
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Mr Mahon
Poland
Unspecified
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Free introduction into the world of Two Hour Wargames.
Much improvement over the previous versions of the game, streamlined rules, useble for head-to-head, cooperative, or solitaire gaming.
It was intended to be played with miniatures, but you are free to use tokens, meeples, card cutouts, paper miniatures, or anything you can come up with, so it can easily be a free print-and-play game.
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Andreas Propst
Austria
enzenkirchen
upper austria
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Elemental Clash: Not actually a board game, but an easy to learn, fast-paced fantasy card game that is readily available for downloading, printing an playing. Deplete your opponent's draw pile in order to win. have phun!
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Emmanuel Aquin
Canada
Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Quebec
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This started as a variant to Zombie in my Pocket, also on this list, but became so different and so big it warranted its own game entry.
Takes place during the airborne night drops of June 5th, 1944. As an allied paratrooper, you must sabotage german guns to prepare the Normandy landings.
The game is mostly solitaire, but includes many scenarios for 2 players or more. With its 44 scenarios and 13 campaigns, I guarantee you will get your money's worth.
Come check it out! We need all the help we can get to trash those Nazi bastards!
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8.
Board Game: 18GA
[Average Rating:7.56 Overall Rank:1061]
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9.
Board Game: Decktet
[Average Rating:7.53 Unranked]
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P.D. Magnus
United States
Albany
New York
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A game system with almost two dozen different games that can be played with it.
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Robert Carroll
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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From the Rules:
"Have you ever wanted to build a basketball dynasty to rival that of Wooden’s legendary UCLA teams? How about experiencing the thrill of recruiting, developing and a starting a team of Champions? What about trying to improve a run-of-the-mill team into a tournament team, all while trying to keep your job? You can do all of these things a more in Basketball Dynasty—in under an hour.
Basketball Dynasty is a game about recruiting and developing college basketball players, while trying to qualify for the tournament and win a championship. Each player acts as the head coach of a college basketball team and has 12 years to win as many games, go to as many tournaments and win as many championships as possible. As the coach, you determine who to recruit (do you want solid season performers or the star who can win in the big game), who to develop, who to start and bench, and what style of team do you want (e.g., a group of 'team players' or bunch of talented 'individuals' who happened to play on the same team)."
Components:
1 Six-Sided Die
1 Rules Book
1 School Rating Chart
1 Coach Record Sheet
14 School Roster Boards
25 Red Chips
150 Blue Chips
168 Player Counters (General Supply)
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Donald Seagraves
United States
Copperas Cove
Texas
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18Scan is a great game, though I'll admit it is the only rail game that I've tried. The rules are a bit complicated but worth it. It'll take you a while to make as well -- there's a lot of cards, tiles, and such to print, mount, and cut.
If you've been interested in rail games but haven't been willing to pay a lot, 18Scan is a good choice.
I rate the game a 7.
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12.
Board Game: Weilong
[Average Rating:7.39 Unranked]
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Robert Carroll
United States
Lawrence
Kansas
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Weilong or "Powerful Dragon" is a simple dice game based loosely on the dice game One-O-Five and the Chinese card game Shou Ba Yi. Each player represents the role of one of Wei Fu's sons on their quest to collect the Five Elements or capture the Dragon. Each player rolls their dice and sets aside those dice showing their target number (Element). The objective is to roll all five dice of the target number before any other player. Target numbers are determined by drawing cards (Son Cards). The Son Cards also have unique abilities for the players.
Once a player has set aside all five dice of the target number or captured the Dragon (by collecting the dice 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), the remaining players add up the total of the dice they have collected along with the penalty number at the bottom of the card and track those points. Your goal is have the lowest point total each round and for the game. The Son cards are then passed to the left and the next round begins (5 Player Game). The winner is the player who has the least amount of points after 5 rounds.
Available on BGG.
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Michael G
United States
Pembroke Pines
Florida
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This is the best one. This is better than many games I've spent a lot of money for. It has a tricky auctioning system, a cool wargame embedded with both tactical and strategic decisions, and a monster rampaging everywhere. Read my session review at the page for an idea of how it plays.
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Anthony L.
United States
Rochester
New York
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I was suprised this wasn't on the list. You can get the rules and map printouts for free on the website. It's a bit of a long and drawn out game, but with the right group, it's pretty good.
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Donald Seagraves
United States
Copperas Cove
Texas
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Mesopotamia, according to the author, is derived from History of the World. I've never played HotW, so I can't say whether or not that's true. The game reminds me of Risk, but a bit smoother. I'll warn you, you'll use at least a half a cartridge of ink printing this game out, but it's worth it.
I rate this game an 8.
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Obey Me in All Things
United States
Berkeley
California
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Ok I can’t honestly say if this is one of the best since I’m the guy who made it but it’s been a big hit at my gaming table for over a year. Good warm up game.
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Steve -
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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This one is a really good abstract tile game. Makes you think even with solo play, and likely is just as good with more players.
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Steve -
United States
Rockford
Illinois
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Haven't had a chance to play it yet, but it's gotten good ratings, looks fun to play, and has gained enough of a fan base that there are now several add-ons for it as well...
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Elijah Lau
Singapore
Singapore
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I think this game looks more interesting than Bloody Mary.
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Jason Lewandowski
United States
Lincoln
Nebraska
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Found this gem on Armchair General website. Very nice production and easy to understand rules, quick to play.
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Kallen McInerney
Australia
Murwillumbah
NSW
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This was worthwile to me
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Michael M.
United States
Fort Worth
Texas
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Explore the land of Dawn, find special items and fight wandering monsters as you search for the ingredients to a magical potion to defeat the impending bandit horde and their leader. You only have eight days before they raze the village of Dawn.
A good fantasy RPG card game that uses unique hand management to determine your abilities and your life.
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Donald Walsh
United States
Columbia
Maryland
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This one looks promising.
Printed today. Gaming group to give it a spin tomorrow.
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Vashazar Yathrukar
United States
Unspecified
Unspecified
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This is my favorite board gaem. It is so much fun with almost any amount of people, and more can jump in at any time with no big disadvantage.
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25.
Board Game: Dicefest
[Average Rating:6.62 Unranked]
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Jon David Faeth
United States
Clyde
Ohio
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http://www.boardgamespiel.com/dicefest/
Hell, you don't even have to print it out. You can just use a standard 8x8 Chess board, a bunch of dice and counters, and you're good to go.
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Posted Tue Nov 6, 2007 6:16 pm
Rockford
Illinois
Orem
Utah
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist.php3?action=view&listi...
Tromsø
Norway
Austin
Texas
* Tumblewords - A cross between Scrabble and Connect Four. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/119/tumblewords
* Blam! - One of several Icehouse games on our site. Quick to learn with deeper strategy than you might think at first. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/29/blam
* Cthulbeque - Iron Chef meets the Cthulhu mythos. (I recently revised and expanded the rules to make it more playable.) http://www.invisible-city.com/play/42/cthulbeque
* Zombie Rancher - Silly theme and a little random, but folks seem to like it... http://www.invisible-city.com/play/91/zombie-rancher
* Grunt, Growl, and Tear - A hex-based dueling game where you can rip the limbs off of your opponent and attach them to yourself to increase your power. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/89/grunt-growl-and-tear
* MetalTalon - A hex-based space-themed wargame with a simple, but versatile, modular spacecraft building system. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/99/metaltalon
* Rocketball - A no-hands, no-feet, no-touching game of soccer for two players and a screaming-hot ball. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/62/rocketball
* RYB - Okay, the name is lame, but the game is pretty nifty. Roll combinations of dice to complete goals before your opponents beat you to them. http://www.invisible-city.com/play/32/ryb
Keep on gamin',
Jonathan Leistiko
Games Advocate
Invisible City Productions
Fort Bragg
California
http://www.lpdgames.com/gamehsbacw.html
It comes in a downloadable print-n-play edition, and there's a Cyberboard gamebox for PBEM. It is about Oklahoma's only major Civil War battle, the Battle of Honey Springs.
Take a look and enjoy.