Tabletop games are actually a lot of fun.

This past weekend there was a Viking boat work party which I attended. We didn’t get a great deal of work done on the boat, but that wasn’t really in the planning anyway. We did some dimensions-wrangling on the plans for the Arby boat, a small one-man boat the Vikings used. We also finished rewiring the trailer which the boat, Blackbird, is hauled on.

In the evening we all sat down to a rousing game of Pirates of the Barbary Coast. Each player gets a ship (or more); the ships are 3D, constructed out of thick cardstock. Each ship has different attributes: move speed, number of guns, the ranges on the guns, etc. Furthermore, every player gets a home island, which serves a few different purposes:

1. It’s where you return treasure your pirates (arrrrr) have found.
2. It’s where you repair your ship(s) after they’ve lost one or more masts to enemy fire.

In the play area, there are one or more islands that have treasure on them. Each coin has a number value on it (from 1 to 5, if I remember correctly), which none of the players can see until they actually get the gold back to their island. The goal of the game is simple: when all the treasure is gone, have the most. Or, if you’re a warmongerer, I suppose you could take out all of the other players and win, too. There being four of us, I was often tempted to get a shady deal going with one of them to take out the other players (and then, of course, embrace my piratitude and backstab my partner).

I was honestly surprised at how enjoyable the game was. We ended up playing two games, each lasting an hour and a half, roughly. Computer games have truthfully spoiled my mind a bit; after playing complex video games for so long, I’d often look at tabletop games with a bit of disdain. “Lame,” I’d think. “That couldn’t be any fun. It looks far too simple.” After my experience this past weekend, it is clear what is needed to make tabletop games amazingly fun: great friends (and a bit of mead doesn’t hurt, either). While the game would’ve been alright with strangers, playing with people I know well was a blast, particularly when the jokes and jabs started rolling.

The game would be even more enjoyable if we had a larger set of ships and crew cards to play with, not to mention more terrain for the ships to maneuver around. We only had a base set and a booster pack or two (I think), so the pickings were a bit slim. If I knew folks who lived close to me who’d play (the people I played with live a few hours away), I’d seriously consider taking it up as a hobby.

Do you play any tabletop games that you really enjoy? If so, what are they?