I went over and played Dominion, and it was so fucking awesome that I went out and bought my own copy.
This just opened the door, and with thanks to the GAF thread linked below, I've bought a couple more and I'm hooked.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406418" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Some of these new board games, particularly from Rio Grande Games are just so well designed and so fun to play.What is modern board gaming?
Let's start out with what it isn't: It isn't Monopoly, Clue, Risk, Scrabble, or any of the countless crappy licensed TV/movie tie-ins (except Battlestar Galactica). I love some of those games, and I'm happy to discuss them here, but many suffer from key problems that modern games try to avoid: (1) aimed at kids; (2) hastily and sloppily put-together with terrible aesthetics; (3) no concern for length (looking at you Monopoly and Risk); (4) heavily luck-dependent; and (5) little replayability once you've figured out the one or two strategies needed to win.
Modern games distinguish themselves from those and other faults of mainstream games that may have pushed people away from board gaming a long time ago. They focus on novel mechanics. They incorporate varying degrees of luck, but often in a more fun manner than simply dice v. dice (though there's certainly a fair sprinkling of dice). They try to keep every player involved and their endgames don't drag on forever (typical length is 45-90 minutes).
The ones I've got so far are quick to learn, fun to play, don't take forever to play a game, and have a hidden level of strategic play.
One's I've bought so far and recommend:
Dominion.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the king. So fun to play - yup - even for non-gamers.
Damn I hope this one comes to XBLA sooner or later.
Ticket to Ride.
Yeah, I know it's on XBLA, but you can't really play local multi player on XB.
Carcassonne
Again, I know this is on a million different game platforms, but there's noting like playing for real.
Games that I'm keen to pick up next:
Yeah, again I know I can play it on XB, but I want it for real!
Reka gave me a single player PC version of this, and I've been hooked.
This one gets all the hype and love from the community as one of the best.
Remake of the classic.
Other reading:
BoardGameGeek - the epicenter of board games.
http://boardgamegeek.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Rio Grande Games
http://www.riograndegames.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;