My tastes in board games are rather specific. The gameplay should have scaling complexity – that is, it needs to be easy to begin a game, and then get increasingly complicated as the endgame approaches. The playing surface and pieces need to be visually interesting. Usually, I prefer games with a fantasy or sci-fi theme. The tone should be serious, or at least tongue-in-cheek. Lastly, I enjoy having a character, hand, or resources that develop over time rather than remaining static.
I usually can’t stand “roll and move”-style board games. I hate Monopoly in particular. Whenever I play a simple board game, the game designer in me is tempted to suggest a rules change to make it more complicated… but since I’m usually playing one of those games with relatives who aren’t fond of complex games, I keep that thought to myself! After all, the ultimate goal of any game is to have fun.
Cooperative games tend to be more fun than competitive games, but that is dependent on the personality types you’re playing with. Dominant personalities can be driven to boss around the other players in a cooperative game, and that almost always takes the fun out of it, unless the other players are all submissive. I am not submissive, and I’m a bit bullheaded, so playing a cooperative game with a very dominant player tends to go south for me.
The board game Silver Gryphon Games is working on under my lead, Hexquest, is a tile-based adventure board game. It starts off simple, with just a town and six random surrounding tiles as the map. The players begin with two dice, no levels, and no special abilities to worry about. As the game progresses, though, the map expands, the players get more options, and while there can only be one winner, the mid-game is full of alliances and secret deals.