I need some board game suggestions.

[Clive Howlitzer]

My group I get together with on Mondays are taking a little bit of a break from Pathfinder. We are wrapping up the last few storylines for Mansions of Madness and might screw around with this game Space Alert a bit. However, I really need to pick up some new games for us to play.
I've decided to steer clear of new RPG systems like Pathfinder, and instead maybe try finding a few fun board games to play. It is cool if they are in depth and complex, just wanted to play something a bit more structured.
I am probably leaning towards something that might simulate dungeon crawls? Or perhaps something that gets players working against each other as well as co op. I am not so interested in those board games that simulate a 4X style video game, I know those are all the rage but my friends aren't too into it. However, I am open to suggestions.
Basically, if it was fun, throw it out, I want to check it out.
-Edit-
Also, maybe I should have posted this in the advice forum? Not sure...

 

[G-Force]

Any board game I want, I always watch a review online. I do this not because I want to get an opinion of the game but wonderful thing about video reviews is that the people look at the components, set up the board and go through turn flow so you can determine if its something you like.

As for suggestions

Cutthroat Caverns - Competitive game where you need to work together but also stab each other in the back to win. Like Munchkin but better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdlPWY5-tPs&noredirect=1

Ghost Stories - Cooperative game about vanquishing evil Chinese spirits. The Dark Souls of coop games
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-OICiHfkA0&noredirect=1

Dungeon Fighter - Cooperative game based off of being a parody of dungeon crawls. Incorporates a dexterity elements and really silly
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1MQPlYS040&noredirect=1

 

[kelsyk]

For a dungeon crawler game I recommend Mice and Mystices. It's a dungeon crawler rpg where the characters are mice battleing rats and insects, with a cat as a boss battle. It has a story and campaign to play through if your are interested in that.

For a co-op/competitive game I suggest Battlestar Galactica. Some players are humans trying to escape the cylons, some are cylon infiltrators trying to stop the humans. Let the scheming and paranoia begin.

Also, Space Alert is an awesome fun game. If you have the opportunity and the friends around, then play Space Alert. Let me know if you survive.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

Here are a bunch of board/card games that I like. A lot of these probably aren't exactly what you and your friends are looking for, but they're still worth looking into anyway.

Power Grid. It's a game about buying power plants and powering cities. It is probably the most well designed game I have ever played. There's tons of strategy, it does a great job of giving players that are behind ways to catch up without punishing you for getting ahead, and some of the mechanics are absolute genius, like how resource buying is handled. I cannot recommend this game enough.

Munchkin. It's a card game that parodies DnD. It's completely silly, and an absolute blast to play with friends. Probably the closest to what you're looking for that I've actually played.

Dominion. A card game about building your deck, with the actual cards you can use being different every time. This leads to wildly different strategies depending on what cards you have to choose from. I would recommend getting at least one expansion, as games can sometimes get a little repetitive without the added card variety, and a lot of the expansion cards are super interesting, but the base game is still excellent.

Seven Wonders is perfect for larger groups of people. Basically, everybody has a hand of cards. They choose one card to play, and then pass the hand on to the next person. This allows for games with lots of people where you don't spend a bunch of time waiting for everybody else to make their turns, which is really nice.

The Battlestar Galactica board game is really awesome, especially if any of you are fans of the show. The mechanics are dramatically different from any other board game I've played, but they work, so I'm not complaining. It is probably the single most tense board game I've played, and emulates the feeling of the first couple of seasons of the show really well.

Space Hulk: Death Angel. It's a co-op card game based off of the Warhammer 40k license where the players control space marines trying to get through rooms full of aliens without all dying. Very difficult, and the best part is, it will only set you back around twenty bucks.

You also might want to give Talisman or Arkham Horror a look. I haven't actually played either of these games, but I know a bunch of people that are really big fans, and they sound like the type of games you're looking for.

Also, I have to give an obligatory recommendation for Settlers of Catan. It's similar-ish to a 4X type game, so it's probably not what you're looking for, but it's my favorite board game of all time, so I can't not recommend it.

Anyway, I hope there were a few games in there that sound interesting.

 

[Smertnik]

You could look into Betrayer at the House on the Hill. It's basically a co-op game where you explore a house and when certain conditions are met one or multiple players become betrayers and work against the rest in one of 50 (that's right) scenarios based on horror B-movies. There're even some light rpg elements like stats and items.

 

[Gronk]

I second the recommendation of Seven wonders, It's a great game that is quick to play and can take a large group of players without becoming more complex, since you're only interacting with the player to your immediate left and right.

Other tips:

Smallworld: a easy to learn area control game where you use randomly generated "races" to control areas of the map. All with some humour and beautiful art.

If you want a similar experience but with a lot more complexity I can recommend "Britannia". There's a remake out by fantasy flight which have streamlined some rules. It's an area control game where you play through a 1000 years of british history with somewhat historical accuracy.

Pandemic: An awesome co-op game where you try to save the world from a number of epidemics. The system is great and it's one of those games where you don't really mind losing because a) it's fairly quick and b) the system works so good it feels like a perfectly balanced machine that can only be awed

The fury of dracula: A very atmospheric game where one player takes the role of dracula and the other players try to find and hunt him across europe.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Thanks for the suggestions, a lot of games to look through. I wish I could get more into the card based games. I am notorious for liking a big nice board to look at. That was one of my favorite things about Mansions of Madness, was all these big high quality cardboard board pieces.

 

[Shymer]

Have you had a look at the Shut Up and Sit Down web-site? Loads of game excellent and entertaining board game reviews. I highly recommend it.

http://www.shutupandsitdown.com/blog/post/welcome/

The Resistance: Avalon, Shadows over Camelot are both co-op, but with secret traitors and are worth a look. Love Letter and Libertalia are quick, simple and fun. We always enjoy Formula D. Power Grid made our heads hurt - but very good if you like a maths workout. I love Lords of Waterdeep and Arkham Horror, but they are not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[alexmillard]

Attack the Darkness is a dungeon crawl game with randomly generated dungeons. It's 1-8 players.

http://www.attackthedarkness.net/

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/131496/attack-the-darkness

 

[Weaver]

For dungeon crawls I would highly recommend Descent: Journeys in the Dark. It's a lot of fun!

I also really like Arkham Horror, but it's not a dungeon crawl.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

You could look into Betrayer at the House on the Hill. It's basically a co-op game where you explore a house and when certain conditions are met one or multiple players become betrayers and work against the rest in one of 50 (that's right) scenarios based on horror B-movies. There're even some light rpg elements like stats and items.

I second this. I've played it a few times and had a blast each time. There's also so many scenarios that the guy who owned the game hadn't even played them all before, and the fact that the Mansion changes shape with every game really helps the replayability.

I'd also recommend Settlers of Catan. It's a fairly simple game that's actually surprisingly deep. Alliances are forged, friendships are ruined, and everyone gets drunk as hell while yelling at each other "trade me some bricks you fucking bastard." It's great.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

You all cost me like 200 dollars tonight. Damn you!

 

[Rack]

You all cost me like 200 dollars tonight. Damn you!

If you got Space Alert it will have been well worth it. If not then back to the store!

 

[Faelix]

Everyone who says something about Lords of Waterdeep says it's good. It does include making parties to explore, but it's not dungeon crawls, just parties you need to assemble as a Waterdeep Lord to reap the benefits. It's a strategic struggle for the power of the city.

It has an expansion, that's actually 2 expansions, and players also like them alot.

http://boardgaming.com/games/board-games/dungeons-and-dragons-lords-of-waterdeep

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/134342/lords-of-waterdeep-scoundrels-of-skullport

 

[NightHawk21]

I don't know if you know about it but the youtube channel Geek and Sundry has a series where they play boardgames called Tabletop run by Will Wheaton (least I think that's his name). Each episode is round half an hour and they go through the basic rules and play a game so you can get a feel for it. Might be worth checking out as I think they're done like 20-30 games at this point.

 

[murdeoc]

i have to recommend descent first, from the games i know this one seems to meet all your criteria, its a dungeon crawler in a dnd-like fantasy setting in which you cooporate against a single dm (also a player). you gain items and level up (i think, not sure about an xp system, it was long ago)

runebound is kind of like that as well, a little less deep and therefore a bit more fast-paced, this one is about levelling and killing bigger monsters. in runebound you sort of compete/ race eachother to finish the game. also it's not in a dungeon, but in a semi-open world.

arkham horror is awesome, you cooporate to avoid having the ancient one (from the lovecraft lore)enter the board and (probably) kill you all.

if you like complex strategies i'd recommend twilight imperium although that would probably be a 4x thing.

all of these four will get you a nice big table full of item cards, miniatures and so on (descent is probably the best in that regard as well)

last i'd like to add i do NOT recommend settlers of catan, it has a far too big luck factor and if your unlucky you can be pretty much done for after a few rounds and then you get to sit through the game not doing anything for the rest of the game. i prefer to have some more influence on the game.

munchkin is cool just like spank the monkey for the more fun oriented and shorter games (both are card games essentially).

 

[themyrmidon]

Battlestar Galactica is my favorite board game. Most of the group I played it with hadn't even seen the show until after playing the game, so don't worry about having no attachment because the game stands on its own. Some pretty heavy role playing in a cooperative but uneasy setting sounds right up your alley.

Betrayal at House on the Hill would be my second pick for your group, but you really should give BSG a shot.

 

[Frybird]

Some have been mentioned already, but my recommendations:

Betrayal at the House of the Hill
As mentioned, it is a sort-of CoOp Game with a few light RPG Elements. It's a bit too reliant on luck, but it's worth to play just for the many different "Betrayal" Scenarios, many of wich are batshit insane. While the games i played had thier fair share of Stock Horror Scenarios, there were also games that ended up with things like...

Spoiler

The players being shrunk and flying in a toy airplane around the mansion while being hunted by stray cats or a player suddenly trying to blow up the place with a timebomb, protecting it...by hurling sticks of dynamite at other players.

Game of Thrones: The Boardgame
It's kinda like Risk (you capture, hold and defend regions and try to dominate the map), but with much less chance involved and with more Gameplay Elements to it. A vague knowledge of the books or at least the TV Show helps (since the factions you control have certain strengths similar to the story) and there are a lot of tokens/figures/cards/sliders to handle, but other than that, it's a fun strategy game for those who want more options in terms of tactics.

Arkham Horror:
Only played it once yet. Another CoOp Game with RPG Elements in wich you investigate stuff from the Cthulhu Mythos and, if you are unlucky, have to fight one of gods (spoiler: you'll probably lose)
Being true to a lovecraft game, it's sort of deliberately unfair, which can be frustrating (i was caught in a cycle in wich my character would go insane everytime he comes across an enemy...also we happened to play around 6 hours for a single game [although it needs mentioning that it was the first time for all of us]), but it manages to build some actual tension and dread and uses its RPG Elements to full effect, giving you truly different characters and many different options.

Skull and Roses:
A short little game that is similar to Liar's Dice, or a very simplified version of Poker. Players lay down Cards with Skulls and Roses and bet on how many they can pick from thier own and other Card-Piles without taking one of the Skull Cards. It's very short but sweet, since everyone has to take risks in order to win and there are a lot of little "Showdown" Moments of competing and bluffing. It's so simple that it can probably played with a normal deck of Cards, but since it's pretty cheap, there's not that much reason to save the money.

Love Letters:
A game set in a victorian age where various suitors try to win over a princess by writing love letters.
...Buut actually it's a very simple card game that is all about sabotaging the other players and being the last one standing. There are various types of cards doing very different things, and it's an interesting mix of luck and strategy as there is a lot of bluffing, guessing and some card counting involved.

King of Tokyo:
A dice game (with a few cards involved) in a Kaiju/Monster Movie Setting in wich you are trying to get a certain amount of points while terrorizing Tokyo and Battling other Players. It's short and heavily reliant on luck, but it has just enough strategic elements to it to make it a compelling and fun game anyways.


Also ordered Android:Netrunner recently...haven't played it yet but it sounds super-awesome.