Hobbies And Interests
Advanced Civilization
Originally published by Avalon Hill in 1991, "Advanced Civilization" lets players attempt to build a lasting civilization through warfare, trade and expansion. They must survive calamities such as floods, volcanoes, civil war, famine and piracy all while collecting enough resources to purchase civilization advances. It is a lengthy game, typically taking several hours as players traverse from the beginnings of recorded history through the modern era. It is best played with six to eight people as that allows for greater trade opportunities while introducing the complications of limited space and resources.
Risk
One of the oldest political map games, Risk was invented in 1957 in France. Published by Parker Brothers, which is now owned by Hasbro, the game board is a world map on which two to six players attempt to take over the world through warfare and expansion. Each player has a certain number of chits which occupy territories on the map.
Since the mid-1980s, several variations of the game have been released with the maps changing to reflect the new themes. These include "Castle Risk," "Risk 2210," "Risk: Lord of the Rings," "Risk: Star Wars," "Risk: Godstorm," "Risk: Black Ops," "Risk Junior: Narnia" and "Risk: Napoleon."
HIstory of the World
Another day-long strategy game similar to Advanced Civilization, Avalon Hill's "History of the World" was also released in 1991. In this game, players progress through epochs, playing a different historical civilization from each period. These civilizations are assigned in a somewhat random fashion, though players have a limited amount of control over it. While resources from previous civilizations remain on the board for scoring purposes, players can manipulate only new units each epoch. Players attempt to expand as much as possible each turn while limiting the success of their opponents.
Axis and Allies
"Axis and Allies" is a World War II strategy game which Nova Games published in 1981. It was later bought out by Avalon Hills and then Hasbro, which is now the publisher. Up to five players can play any of the main countries making up the major war powers in World War II. The Axis team players can play Germany, Italy or Japan while the Allied team players can play the United States, the United Kingdom or Russia. Each player has specific resources that function in different ways. These resources include infantry, armor, fighters, bombers, battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines, troop transports, anti-air guns and factories. The game attempts to distribute these along historical-based lines. Countries can also devote resources to research to give them new technology later in the game.
In addition to the basic game, Hasbro has released several variations including Axis and Allies: Europe, Axis and Allies: 1942, Axis and Allies: Pacific, Axis and Allies: D-Day, Axis and Allies: Battle of the Bulge and Axis and Allies: War at Sea.
Blackbeard
"Blackbeard" is a game of piracy set in the Western Hemisphere. Players travel by ship up and down the coast raiding ports and trying to survive life as a pirate. Each player takes on the role of a historical pirate and attempts to earn a Letter of Marque and a noose-free retirement.
Originally published in the late 1980s, it was recently repurposed to allow for greater interactive play. The original version often had players becalmed for long periods in which they did nothing. Published in 2008, Richard Berg's version keeps many of the original elements but allows for each player to have more game play.