Gaming is a big thing for me and I have been collecting RPG's and board/card games for years. Here's a list of my fav board/card games (in no particular order).
AYE, DARK OVERLORD - A fun little card game where players take on the rolls of incompetent minions, who with the help of their cards try to explain why they failed in the task set for the by the Dark Overlord (another player).
Cards are of two groups, places - The Castle of dreary memories, the Well of forgetfulness etc that the players use to make their story and pass left or right for passing the buck when the player starts to flag. There's also an interrupt allowing you to butt in and "correct" someone.
The loser is the player who gets 3 scowls from the Dark Overlord for their incompetence.
Play time 30-60 mins
DER AUSRIESER - A German card game based on the tour de france. A strategic game that relies on you trying to break other players by setting and maintaining a speed they cannot match thus earning them penalty points.
A hand lasts about 20-30 minutes - one hand per player. Winner the person with least accumulated penalty points.
NUCLEAR WAR - A fun if tasteless game of mutually assured destruction. Players are dealt a hand of population cards ranging from 1-25 million people and a hand of play cards which consist of propoganda, carriers, warheads, secrets, top secrets and spies. Secrets and top secrets have to be announced immediately , allowing other players to use spies to take them. Regardless if they are stolen or not the secret takes effect, some are good and some are really bad.
After the secrets are out of the way players lay 3 cards face down, adding to the bottom each turn and revealing the top, so remembering what you previously placed is crucial. The first few rounds are usually taken up with propoganda as players lure the population of other players to their country. But it's only a matter of time before some puts up a missile and the nukes start flying. It's not unusual for there to be no winners as once nuked out each player can launch a final strike causing a cascade effect.
Play time is about an hour.
MIDNIGHT PARTY - A fun end of evening game about partygoers in a haunted house. Each player controls several guests at the party and can place them where they like on the board. On their turn they roll a six sided die and move one guest that many spaces. The die has no 6 but a ghost instead. Rolling the ghost results in HUGO, the ghost moving 3 spaces. He starts in the cellar and after 3 ghost rolls appears at the party and panic enues as everyone tries to lock themselves in a room. The rooms can only be entered on a correct roll (if you need to move 4 spaces to get in a room a 5 won't do). The rooms are score from -1 to 3.
Play is usually 3 parties and takes about 60 mins.
CASH $ GUNS - Bank robbers splitting the loot of their latest crime. Each player is armed with a foam pistol which they point at a player of their choosing in an attempt to make them back down from claiming their share. The gun pointing is accompanied with a card which is either "CLICK", a bluff, "BANG", a shot or "BANG BANG BANG" ANOTHER SHOT BUT ONE THAT GOES FIRST. Winner is the player with the most cash.
Play time 60-90 mins.
GRASS - The drug dealing card game. Players try to set up a market for their goods while trying to avoid getting caught with the paranoia cards of SOLD OUT, DOUBLE CROSSED AND UTTERLY WIPED OUT, having theirs deals stolen by other players or being HEATED by the law. Players can trade cards and generally screw each other over until someone closes the market. Than it's a matter of counting the deals and taking the minus points for paranoia cards. A brilliant wee game.
Play time 30 mins a hand , 1 hand per player.
KING OF TOKYO - Big monsters beating the crap out of each other in Tokyo. Cards can be bought using energy cubes gained in the game to make your monster tougher. Simple game but very fun.
Play time 60-120 mins
FAMILY BUSINESS - A strategic card game where players take contol of a 1920's crime family and try to rub out the competition by placing rival gang members on the "Wall" using contracts. Once sufficient people are on the wall a gang war starts, killing one person each turn til none are left on the wall. As mob war starts everyone scrambles to remove their gangsters from the wall using substitutions, and cards that allow the order to be changed, all the while hoping no-one plays "The St Valentines Day Massacre", killing everyone on the wall.
Play time - 30-60 mins.
NEOLITHIBUM - A boardgame best played after a few drinks. The idea is that as a stone age society the players must build a monument to their god using rocks of various sizes (yes the game comes with a bag of rocks). The fun part is that players can manipulate how said rocks are place, from wearing someone elses glasses to standing on one leg with your nose on the table and using only your little fingers!
Play time - 60 mins but usually double that for the hysterics.
With the exception of Neolithibum and Midnight Party these are all pretty easy to get a hold of.
