Episode 173 of the Dice Tower podcast covers a topic that is important for many new and would-be gamers: Bang for the Buck

Gamers that are just beginning to explore the vast array of games available can suffer sticker shock when confronted with some of the larger and more elaborate board games available.  The economics of a buying a new game becomes much clearer to understand when you factor replay-ability.   When factoring how to spend your hard-earned entertainment dollars it is important to consider whether a game will sit on the shelves unplayed.  But a game that brings family and friends together at the gaming table for countless hours over its lifetime is money well spent.   Compare the cost of a 2 hour board game session with the cost of a 2 hour movie for a family of four and the dollars spent may be comparable.  Play the game twice and the game quickly becomes a better use of your time and money.

Here are some highlights from Tom and Eric’s top 10 games that offer bang for the buck. (Plus a few of my own):

Cosmic Encounter

In Cosmic Encounter , each player is the leader of an alien race. The object of the game is to establish colonies in other players’ planetary systems. Players take turns trying to establish colonies. The winner(s) are the first player(s) to have five colonies on any planets outside his or her home system. A player does not need to have colonies in all of the systems, just colonies on five planets outside his or her home system. These colonies may all be in one system or scattered over multiple systems. The players must use force, cunning, and diplomacy to ensure their victory.

For Sale

For Sale is a quick, fun game nominally about buying and selling real estate. During the game’s two distinct phases players first bid for several buildings, then, after all buildings have been bought, sell the buildings for the greatest profit possible.  Up to 6 players.

Roll Through the Ages

Build a thriving civilization–in under an hour!

Collect goods, assign workers to build cities and erect monuments, advance your civilization through cultural and scientific developments, but don’t forget to harvest enough food to feed your growing population. Grab those dice and Roll Through the Ages! in this addictive and strategic new game from Matt Leacock, designer of Pandemic.

Roll Through the Ages plays in 30-45 minutes. The game is for 1-4 players, ages 8 and up.

Power Grid

Eric calls this his favorite game of all time and I would concur.

The object of Power Grid is to supply the most cities with power when someone’s network gains a predetermined size. In this new edition, players mark pre-existing routes between cities for connection, and then bid against each other to purchase the power plants that they use to power their cities.
However, as plants are purchased, newer more efficient plants become available, so by merely purchasing you’re potentially allowing others access to superior equipment.
Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the ‘renewable’ windfarm/ solar plants which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes.

Pandemic

In Pandemic, you are specialists at the CDC/Atlanta where you watch several virulent diseases break out simultaneously all over the world. The team mission is to prevent a world-wide pandemic outbreak, treating hotspots while researching cures for each of the four plagues before they get out of hand.

Players must plan their strategy to mesh their specialist’s strengths before the diseases overwhelm the world. For example, the Operations Specialist can build research stations which are needed to find cures for the diseases. The Scientist needs only 4 cards of a particular disease to cure it instead of the normal 5. But the diseases are breaking out fast and time is running out: the team must try to stem the tide of infection in diseased areas while developing cures. If disease spreads uncontrolled, the players all lose. If they can cure all four diseases, they win.

The board shows earth with some big population centers. On each turn a player can use four actions to travel, cure, discover and build. Cards are used for this but the deck also contains Epidemics…

Bohnanza

This one is my addition to the list.  As card games go, Bohnanza is quite revolutionary. Perhaps its oddest feature is that you cannot rearrange your hand, as you need to play the cards in the order that you draw them. The cards are colorful depictions of beans in various descriptive poses, and the object is to make coins by planting fields (sets) of these beans and then harvesting them. To help players match their cards up, the game features extensive trading and deal making.