# 500 Pounds of Beef – 5 Meaty Board Games for Long Weekends



## Jhaelen (Sep 4, 2013)

Well, Arkham Horror of course! With four big and four small expansions this colossus of a game support up to 10 players. Play time is at least 2 hours, 3-4 hours being much more likely and 5-6 hours not unheard of. It's fully coopoerative, so there will be no bad blood afterwards, which is a big plus, imho. The game is dripping with theme and despite losing more often than not it's always a lot of fun to struggle against all-powerful Ancient Ones and their hordes of servitors.


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## Jan van Leyden (Sep 4, 2013)

For our upcoming boardgame weekend we're currently asking for epic (in the sense of a playing time of more than 4 hours)boardgames people like to play.

Britannia is a given, Game of Thrones in high demand - even though both are mere quickies on this scale.

I'm looking forward to play any 18XX and/or Civilization (Francis Tresham version). Other games being discussed are Age of Reason, Through the Ages, and Age of Renaissance (seeing a common theme, here?).

I don't think that I'll be able to play Pax Britannica, Viceroys, or Spanish Main, though. :-(


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## Mark CMG (Sep 6, 2013)

The original Civilization, Divine Right, and also Kingmaker fall into the above category though Kingmaker can sometimes be played to completion in a long evening with experienced players.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/71/civilization

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/23/divine-right

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/987/kingmaker


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## jwood314 (Sep 7, 2013)

World


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## Diamond Master (Sep 7, 2013)

There's a LOTR Risk that takes even longer than normal risk. Has interesting adventure components, too.

I was just recently introduced to Talisman, billed as "the first adventure game." It's really really fun, but takes a good chunk out of your weekend. One time we thought we could play it while we waited on another player for D&D. Bad decision.


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## Fiddleback (Sep 8, 2013)

I'm glad to see so many good suggestions coming up.  The 18XX series is excellent and, if you are inclined to train games, I'd also suggest Age of Steam.

Civ games are lots of fun as well, and in addition to the suggestions here I might also point you at a lighter version Civ building (and not nearly as much of a time burner), Antike.  Unique mechanics and and extra board built in make it a very fun game to play.

And, of COURSE Arkham Horror.  In fact, almost any of FFGs Big Box games will fit nicely into this category.


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## Jhaelen (Sep 9, 2013)

Thanks for mentioning 'Origins: How We Became Human', btw.!
After looking it up over at BGG and reading a couple of reviews this sounds like a really interesting game with a completely different take on 'civilization'-like games. Unfortunately, it appears to be out of print at the moment. But some of the other Sierra Madre Games titles also look interesting, e.g. Bios Megafauna.


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## tomBitonti (Sep 9, 2013)

If I may go old school:

Freedom in the Galaxy has 2, 4, and 20 hour variants.  All on an amazingly and unnecessarily busy (bursting with color and an oddly convoluted layout) game board.  A rather rich game, despite the handicap of the board design.

Magic Realm, using the full rules.  This one had a rules update which staged the introduction of the full rules to enable easier learning of the rules.

Although bear and pretzels, Titan can easily take 8 hours to play.

For mind-bending rules -- plotted 3D combat on a small scale and between star systems in a 40 ly radius of Sol -- try StarForce.  Not actually hard to play, but lots of rules to get through.

Or the classic of Epic for boards and rules and counters, Squad Leader.

Thx!

TomB


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## Fiddleback (Sep 10, 2013)

I like your suggestions [MENTION=13107]tomBitonti[/MENTION].  Though I do have to say I think Squad Leader leaves the realm of board games and heads squarely into war gaming.  Nothing wrong with that, just an important distinction to make.
 [MENTION=46713]Jhaelen[/MENTION],  glad Origins piqued your interest.  It is out of print, but with some judicious hunting around (and a willingness to part with no small amount of cash) you can find ways to purchase it, or even rent it.  Big Megafauna, which I believe used to be called American Megafauna, is, according to the designers, the prequel to Origins.  They can, it is suggested, be played back to back for an VERY lengthy gaming experience.


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## Nytmare (Sep 28, 2013)

My current top three big box picks would be Eclipse, Android, and Mansions of Madness.

Titan is up there (along with the Eric Lauer Titan Powers), but our games tend to be fast enough that it doesn't require a dedicated afternoon to play.


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