Desert Island Board Games

I did think of trying to come up with five games about desert islands, and managed Kahuna, Tonga Bonga and (at a pinch) El Caballero, Entdecker and Spanish Main. However I think that's going too far...

Boggle

OK, first up, I insist on having a word game along. I love words and language, and the choice is going to come down to one of three: Scrabble, Upwords, or Boggle. Scrabble is the classic, but I find Upwords more challenging (though sometimes more frustrating). Boggle never fails to be a challenge -- perhaps the ultimate in "variable board" games, I don't know how many grid combinations there are but I'll bet there's more than you could get through in many, many lifetimes! For that variety, I think Boggle gets the nod as the first game. That's if you count a four-by-four grid of letter dice as a board -- but I do!

Second up, Diplomacy. Simple rules that take minutes to learn, no luck whatsoever, a wonderful game of persuasion and coercion, truth and lies. When is the right time to strike? Who will betray you, and when? You know that, ultimately, it will happen, but you daren't strike too early... It's not a quick game, and it's one that some people are definitely not suited to play (if you can't take being stabbed, stay away!). But it's one that has stood the test of time -- let's face it, there aren't many other board games that have virtually created a hobby by themselves.

Thirdly, well, there has to be a bidding/auction game in there somewhere. Candidates include Modern Art, Money, Hols der Geier and Ponte Vecchio, but I'm going to go for Medici. Partly because I'm a sucker for anything with a Renaissance name and theme (however loosely tacked on) but partly because it's quick, clever and almost invariably tight. Even when you've filled your ship you tend to keep watching the remaining auctions, looking at who's bidding what for what and how it will affect your placings and thus your strategy in the next round.

Fourthly, I want a variable game of some kind (besides Boggle!). Something that will turn out different every time. Vinci is a possibility, in that although board isn't variable, the empires and their powers are. El Caballero is just a little too mind-numbing and Entdecker, while lovely to look at and not unenjoyable, lacks any real interaction. I used to love the first edition of Spanish Main, though the second (which is the one I ended up buying!) isn't as good -- but it hasn't quite stood the test of time. Tikal is very, very tempting but I'm not sure it's really that variable a board, despite the tile placement. So I'm going to go for the game that seems to have revitalised gaming in the last few years -- Settlers of Catan. I'm not quite as mad keen on it as many seem to be -- but I know I'll be able to find opponents any time I want to play!

So, just one game left. And I'm going to indulge myself by taking a game that's got a bit of everything and a theme I can't resist. That game is Serenissima. There's resource management, there's trading, there's combat, there's even a bit of bidding (for turn sequence) -- plus it looks absolutely fantastic and has more bits than anything else I own. There's always more you want to do than you can, and not enough time to do it, and you've constantly got to try and second-guess what other people are going to do. Do you try for a monopoly on some commodity? Do you build up ships early on? Do you sell to other people for big money, but help them to victory points in the process? When do you trade and when do you fight? So many choices, so many options...

Ah, there are so many good games out there. Someone build a bigger island!

Desert Island Board Games Index