Gifts for Gamers: Top 10 Board Games Picks

GIFTS FOR GAMERS - A weekly column at Cold's Gold Factory that focuses on bringing you some of the coolest gifts for gamers of all types. Remember to check back here for ideas for Gamer Birthday Gifts, Stocking Stuffers for Gamers, and Gamer Christmas Ideas.


Gifts For Gamers

It's that time of year again, when Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just around the corner.  This is one of the absolute best times of the year to stock up on games and gifts for gamers as Amazon holds some amazing discounts on toys and games as they gear up for the Christmas season.  The countdown to Black Friday has already started and so have the savings! 

Board games, especially the more hardcore gamer style board games, can tend to be a bit pricey, so this month is a great time to buy a few of those cool board games you've been holding back on because of the price.  It's also a great time to ask for specific games for your Christmas gift list and let someone else foot the bill. 

Gifts For Gamers: Cold's Top Board Game Picks

This week on Gifts For Gamers, I've compiled a list of my most favorite Board Games of all times.  I am personally recommending each and every one of these board games as a gift for yourself or a gift for a gamer in your life.  This is an awesome list of games that I've played, purchased, and enjoyed for ages.  You should find them enjoyable as well.  And the best part about board games is that you can try and convert non-hardcore gamers into playing and enjoying some of the cooler board games out there.  Who knows, you may help bring the gamer out of someone who didn't even know they had that side in them!


Cold's Favorite Board Games
(In No Particular Order)





Settlers of Catan


1. The Settlers of Catan - The Settlers of Catan is one of the best board games I've ever played and owned.  Settlers is one of the most popular and successful board games among many gaming circles.  The Settler's of Catan is a resource building strategy game and the game board map is different every game thanks to the random design of the game board tiles.  This is great for replay value and Settlers is also a great game to introduce non-hardcore gamers to some cooler board games.  I can't recommend this game enough.  There are many expansions for
2. Blokus - Blokus is an awesome thinking game to help sharpen your mind.  Blokus has won a ton of awards and is easy to learn, but hard to master.  I asked for this as a Christmas gift the year it released and I've loved it ever since.




Blokus


3. RoboRally - Another super fun game where you program robots to race around a track and try to beat your mates.  It's not as easy as it sounds because there are tons of obstacles, lazers, pitfalls, and other robot racers.  It only takes a single alteration in your course to throw your whole plan out of whack because you program your robots ahead of time and they run their routes regardless of what happens to get in their way.
4. Dealer McDope - Out of print, rare, hard to find, and awesome fun for your kind buddies.  Travel from Doobietown, USA to the far reaches of the world collecting hash, blow, acid, and many other drugs to bring back to Doobietown and sell for a profit.  Don't get busted by the fuzz or get your goods stolen by a competing dealer.  One of the most hard to find games out there that no pot smoking college kid should be without.

   

   Cranium

   
5. Cranium - Cranium is one of the most popular family or party style board games ever released.  This game brings the best of many party games all into a single game which draws from Pictionary, Charades, and many other common games.  Put the all together and you have an amazing party game that is fun for the whole family.  There are also plenty of Cranium expansion packs to further add to your game.
6. Diplomacy - The classic board game of trust, treachery, lying, and backstabbing.  Each player controls a WWI superpower in Europe and must work with the other superpowers to create pacts and treaties behind the scenes, but you can't trust anyone!  Each round of play is divided into a Diplomacy phase and an Action phase.  During Diplomacy phase you pull players aside individually or as a group trying to form treaties and work together to support each others actions.  Once everyone has their actions recorded on paper, its time for the Action phase where you see just who lied to you and who holds up to their end of the bargain.  There's nothing more fun that having a few players trusting in your fully only to see you swarm across their unprotected lands laying waste to everything they left behind.  LOL SUCKAS!  Imagine the board game Risk with a diplomacy phase and you are close.
7. Talisman: The Magical Quest - Talisman is another excellent fantasy based board game where you build your characters up and try to collect treasure while staying alive and making it back out of the dungeon.  Hours of fun and a ton of expansions to add into the board game for even more fun, strategy, and challenges.
8. HeroQuest - Out of print, rare, hard to find, but super awesome!  I can't count the number of hours we played this in high school and college.  It's a little different than most board games because one player acts as the Dungeon Master who controls all of the monsters, traps, and puzzles.  An awesome game all around and there where a lot of expansions that are now even harder to find.  Keep your eyes peeled at rummage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets!
9. Blood Bowl - Cross Football with Warhammer Fantasy races and what do you get?  Blood Bowl!  That right!  Orcs, Skaven, Humans, Elves, etc playing Football in the Blood Bowl.  Not everyone gets carted off alive!  With the expansion your Necromancer can bring the dead back to play for even more first downs!  I still remember my first Blood Bowl league in college when I went 7-1 and took home the League Championship with my Undead team and the All Star Vampire quarterback I had drafted.  Think you're coming to sack me?  Hypnotized!  Think again!  So much awesome I can't even describe it all.  At least there is a PC version of Blood Bowl out now.
10. Supremacy - Another world superpowers game, similar to Diplomacy, but this one is on a World Scale.  Where else can you try to bankrupt opposing countries, defeat them in strategic warfare, or just launch nukes to level them or half of the entire world?  If playing with me be forewarned, I like to nuke first and ask questions later!  Another hard to get out of print special board game.



Blood Bowl - Real Fantasy Football



After realizing how many of my favorite games are out of print and hard to find (including ones that I couldn't even add to this list because they aren't available at all anymore!), I just realized I must be getting old.  LOL.  Regardless there are a ton of awesome games on this list, even if some of them are way more expensive now due to their rarity.  I hope you enjoyed the list and I hope they release some of these out of print games again!

Are there any super awesome hardcore gamer board games that I missed out on?  Leave your own recommendations in the comments.

Check out my Top 5 Card Games List too.