Friday Fun: Are you a board game geek?

Looking for information about your favorite board game? Have questions about the rules? Trying to discover a new game you or someone you know might like? Try the BoardGameGeek (BGG) web site!

partial screen shot of BGG web site showing search box

You can search for games in various ways by selecting from the Browse options or the drop down by the search box. There is an advanced search option where you can specify things like minimum player age, year, user ratings, number of players, as well as add (or filter out) particular game categories (like bluffing, memory, horror, dice, and many more possibilities).

I did an advanced search just looking for the game mechanic “Rock-Paper-Scissors.” I would never have expected the lengthy list of games that were displayed for this search, including one I randomly clicked called Hoity Toity that had an average user rating of 6.57 (out of 10). Information about the game includes a description, deisgner, artist, publisher, playing time, number and suggested age of players, honors and awards, game components, videos, discussion forums (one of which is Rules), and more. The site has a marketplace where games are traded or sold, and also provides links to Amazon.com and Ebay. Not every game has as much information as this one, though.

You can use the site anonymously, but if you want to participate in the forums, contests, or ratings you’ll need to establish a free account. With an account you can create a personalized BGG front page too. Learn more about the site by reading the Guide to BoardGameGeek.

And if you’d like to see what board games Andersen Library has for checkout, please ask a librarian or search the catalog. A search for the phrase “board games” will find titles such as Operation, Trivial Pursuit, Mancala, Clue, Pictionary, and more.

About Barbara

I am a Reference & Instruction librarian, head of that department in Andersen Library, an associate professor, and a member of the General Education Review Committee and Faculty Senate. I've been working at UW-W since July 1, 1990.
This entry was posted in around the world and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Friday Fun: Are you a board game geek?

  1. DJ says:

    Neat site. Thanks for the suggestion.

Comments are closed.