BoardGameGeek discussion

Hi all,

I'm hosting a board game give-away. Here's the link to my blog for anyone interested: Sign up here

And, to keep this in the spirit of discussion, what's your favorite board game based on a book?

Or favorite book based on a board game?

My favorite game-based-on-book is the Lord of the Rings LCG. Both my wife and I really enjoy it, and I've gotten several friends into it. It's super-difficult, which makes winning all the more rewarding. It's one of my favorite co-ops.

Which is funny, because I didn't enjoy the actual book of Lord of the Rings so much. My wife and I are re-reading it though, so we'll see how I feel after this go-around.

My #1 gaming buddy loves that LCG. Unfortunately I just can't stand co-ops. Probably Pillars of the Earth for me, great worker placement game.

Thanks for the give-away, Tom! Very cool.

I would agree on the LotR card game. My husband and I play it and it can be quite challenging at times. I like the theme and adventure/interest...more than pathfinder in terms of story.

That said, I want to like GoT, but I don't at this point. I might, if I can ever quite get over playing my first game with the roughest faction, with one person who couldn't get past the fact that we weren't re-enacting the book. It made the first play very un-fun. :(

I guess the Knizia Lord of the Rings would be my favorite board game based on a book. War of the Ring is quite good also, although I think I've only managed to play it twice.

I really do have to agree with the LotR LCG, such a great game.

Mine would be Dune, the original board game based on the book of the same name. Now that game truly catches the flavor of shifting allegiances, backstabbery and power plays that occur in the book.

The book wasn't bad, but I don't love it - it wasn't terrible, but it isn't as amazing as some people seem to make it out to be: "Oh, it does something so new!"

It didn't really for me - but I've read a lot of Middle Eastern folklore, and have read numerous books where the plots are filled with backstabbing - so neither was really new, per-se. It was certainly enjoyable, but not amazing.

I agree with the LOTR LCG, but I enjoy two others as well: A Game of Thrones LCG and Discworld: Ankh Morpork. What makes both these LCGs really good in my opinion is the artwork (completely separate from the films and TV series) and the fact that you can find almost all the characters in there. It can make you feel like participating in an adventure from the book (LOTR) or scheming in politics to make your house succeed (GOT). Ankh Morpork is a much lighter game, but the chaos fits the setting really well.

Game based on a book eh? Can't vote for Ankh Morpork as I haven't played it yet. Don't really care for co-ops, so no LotR. In my mind, it comes down to a tough four way battle between the Game of Thrones LCG, the Game of Thrones boardgame, Dune, and Pillars of the Earth. Each of them is an excellent game that handles the source material reasonably well, but I think the edge goes to the GoT LCG, if only because it's so much fun to have Ilyn Payne whack peoples heads off.

The LotR LCG did not really hold up with my wife and I. I think it may have been a bit more fun if I acquired more cards and got into the deckbuilding aspect of it, but going down that road gave me the shivers after shaking a magic the gathering addiction years ago. I math-traded it on BGG for modern art, which we have had a hoot with. I've got the war of the ring, and it looks great, I'm slowly fighting through the rules when time allows.