Anyone have a favorite "Hockey Board Game"

[MyDogSparty]

I'm curious if anyone has a favorite "Hockey Board Game" (which means it usually uses dice or cards).

I'm aware of the video/PC games, bubble hockey type games, and air hockey but I'm looking more for a strategic hockey game like Strat-O-Matic Hockey or APBA hockey. Hockey moves so fast that I think it's really hard to capture the excitement with a board game. Has anyone found one that is fun to play?

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[Infinite Vision*]

That would be interesting if I knew of one, but I haven't really looked into it much, I'm sure there's one out there that would be quite fun.

 

[loudi94]

I have this one:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6691

My brother cut out team logos from the Sears catalog and pasted them on the figures. I still have the game. Not ready to let my 5 year old play with it.

 

[Doctor No]

Our Strat-o-Matic league has been running since 1996, and is a main reason why I had to take my doctoral preliminary exams twice apiece.

http://nshl.org

 

[seventieslord]

I've had this one card came since I was a kid. It's called "NHL Hockey Card Game". It's pretty simple. Just three trays - one of your cards, one of your opponent's, and one for cards that you "play". You get a chart that shows what you can play when the puck is in your possession and when it is not.

If you steal the puck and they don't have a steal or bodycheck card to take it back, then you can take a shot (if you have a shot card) - If you shoot, they better have a save or deflection card or you score. They could play a hook or hold card on you to take the puck away but they better hope you don't have a minor penalty card.

In total, there are about 20 different cards you can play. Even the cards that are similar affect the game in slightly different ways. I found it quite fun as a kid. I played it with my wife a couple of years ago and we both liked it.

 

[reckoning]

I was extremely addicted to Strat-O-Matic Hockey back in the 80s.

 

[SealsFan]

Played Strat-o-matic for over 20 years, now find Inside the Crease to be more to my liking. Check it out here: http://insidesportsgames.org/inside_crease.htm.

There's a forum on Delphi Forums called "The Penalty Box" where you can read about all the different hockey games out there. Inside Sports Games also has their own forum on Delphi.

 

[decma]

Played Strat-o-matic for over 20 years, now find Inside the Crease to be more to my liking. Check it out here: http://insidesportsgames.org/inside_crease.htm.

There's a forum on Delphi Forums called "The Penalty Box" where you can read about all the different hockey games out there. Inside Sports Games also has their own forum on Delphi.

I played a lot of Strat-o-matic hockey in the mid 80s and now my kids are into it.
Can anyone give a quick run down on how Inside the Crease differs from Strat-o-matic?

Thanks.

 

[SealsFan]

Inside the Crease corrects a lot of what I find to be flaws in Strat.

Strat player cards don't have enough individuality, too "cookie-cutter" with players grouped into 4 different categories for passing and defense. A player with 35 assists will have essentially the same passing card as one with 90 assists. Strat combines ratings that should be separate, which would provide more individuality; for example the Defense rating covers both the ability to stop offensive penetration and the ability to grab defensive rebounds. Strat's penalty system is not too realistic and while players may finish with close to their actual penalty minutes, they do it with more misconducts and fewer majors than in real life.

Strat is also an "arcade" game in which you decide in certain situations whether a player will shoot, pass or try to penetrate. What happens is that you always look at the puck carrier's ratings and the rating of the opponent and choose the best percentage move... which is fun if you're playing head-to-head with an opponent and matching wits, but for solo play does not reflect how real-life situations happen on the ice. In real hockey the coach behind the bench does not get inside the player's head and tell him what to do in a given situation. Finally Strat's cards are hard on the eyes; this game company has always been clueless when it comes to the graphic presentation of their games. Strat added some "super advanced" rules in 92-93 which are mostly cosmetic and band-aids which do nothing to improve their lousy game engine.

ITC is not an arcade game. The action is driven by Fast Action Cards like Strat but there are no charts to consult, everything is derived from the player cards which are easy to read and attractive in team colors. Players are rated for more defensive categories than Strat and have a wider range of possible ratings numbers, allowing for more individuality. Both games play in about an hour and are of medium complexity. Both games have modern and retro seasons as well as some WHA seasons.

There are a lot of sports gaming forums on Delphi Forums where you can read about ITC and many other hockey games. The Penalty Box forum covers all hockey games. http://forums.delphiforums.com/schultz8/start

The Tabletop Sports forum covers all sports but you can find some hockey stuff there. http://forums.delphiforums.com/tabletopsports/start

Inside the Crease is made by Inside Sports Games and they have their own forum on Delphi: http://forums.delphiforums.com/isgf/start
I currently have a project going pitting the 78-79 WHA teams against the 66-67 NHL, which you can read about on the Inside Sports forum or the Penalty Box forum. My screen name on Delphi is SealsFan1.

I have two other hockey games I highly recommend which I'll put in a separate post. I have also rated hockey games on boardgamegeek under the screen name of Blake Stone.

 

[SealsFan]

The two other games I play a lot of are Shootout Hockey and Hockey Blast.

Shootout is a low-complexity game that plays in only 15 minutes but offers a lot of variety. No individual player cards, rather the roster is represented on a team card. I have made a series of 3 videos showing how to play it on Youtube, here's the first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzSIoXSNob0

Shootout has a forum on Delphi where you can read some of my replays: http://forums.delphiforums.com/shootout/start

Hockey Blast is low-medium complexity and plays in 30 minutes. Like all games made by PLAAY Games, it's completely different from all other sports board games with the player cards having descriptive qualities instead of hard stats (but the qualities are derived from stats). Here is the PLAAY forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/plaaygames/start

There are videos made by other gamers on Youtube showing play-throughs of Inside the Crease and Hockey Blast. I plan to make an ITC video sometime in the future.

 

[Doctor No]

Thanks, SealsFan - I'm going to explore this game a bit further.

For awhile (when Strat didn't have a computer version), we played Faceoff - which seemed more accurate but less fun. Then we switched back to Strat once the computer game came out.

Strat's fine, and it does what I want it to do, but I'll have to see if I like ITC better - the website is interesting enough.

 

[Big Phil]

Hockey Night in Canada came out with a trivia board game which I loved of course. No one ever wanted to play against me though. Amateurs!

 

[SealsFan]

Doctor No, here's the Inside Sports website where you can buy Inside the Crease. http://insidesportsgames.org/games.htm

Seasons are available pre-printed in color or B&W, or you can buy them in PDF form and print them out on your own. There's also a computer version which is a direct representation of the board game but really best to start with the board game and understand how that works before moving to the PC version.

 

[seventieslord]

Hockey Night in Canada came out with a trivia board game which I loved of course. No one ever wanted to play against me though. Amateurs!

No one wants to play me either. What you have to do is make it so that you have to answer three straight questions from the category to move on, and they only need to answer one. Then the game is pretty fairly handicapped.

 

[angrymnky]

I had this one in the 80's. Got it because I really liked the version they made for CFL football.
Can't compare to the other player stat card games, never played them.

 

[islandnucker]

Growing up we had a card game called Team. You drafted your team first 3F, 2D, 1G. You then had a choice to "trade" with another team (blindly take a card from the other team and return a player of the same position), release a player to the deck and pick up another one or play a game against another player. The games were close to war but with other catches to it.

It wasn't very PC as some of the players off of the top of my head were named Chief Sitting Bench, Ivan Fazoff (drinking vodka on the card art), Gay Blade (figure skating player).

A quick google of the game did not bring up anything. I wonder where that game went I would have to see if it's at my parents place. It had a yellow box with all the players sitting on the front for a team picture.

 

[angrymnky]

Growing up we had a card game called Team.

I think it's this game. Slapshot
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1705/slapshot

 

[seventieslord]

If I'm ever lucky enough to get to an SIHR AGM again (they should have one in western canada more than just once every 6 years, right?) then I'm definitely going to bring my hockey trivia games. Might actually find someone there who can compete with me. I know of a few who definitely can compete AND beat me.

 

[islandnucker]

I think it's this game. Slapshot
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1705/slapshot

Awesome, thanks for finding that! It looks like it goes by many names. This is the one that we had https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameversion/212340/team-gamma-two-version-flatboxhttp://

 

[frisco]

I'm a dyed in the wool Strat guy for like 35 years. Tried other games but nothing strikes the balance between fun (playability) and realism. Truly, a masterfully designed game.

Play in lots of keeper leagues face to face and online. Lots of enjoyment.

My Best-Carey

 

[decma]

Dr. No and frisco,
I hadn't played strat in years but recently got back into in with my kids. Prefer the old-style cards and rules to the new, so mostly play with pre-93 players.

Are your strat leagues online or in-person? Current cards or past seasons? Any openings for new players?

 

[Tweed]

 

[frisco]

Dr. No and frisco,
I hadn't played strat in years but recently got back into in with my kids. Prefer the old-style cards and rules to the new, so mostly play with pre-93 players.

Are your strat leagues online or in-person? Current cards or past seasons? Any openings for new players?

I've got one face-to-face league (Saskatchewan based). The rest are online. All use the current cards but there are "retro" leagues out there.

My Best-Carey

 

[Doctor No]

Our Strat-o-Matic league is computer-based, solo but with options to play "live" (preferred for playoffs).

No open spots, but we're always looking for associates (who play sub games and get priority when spots open up). PM me if interested and I can get you on the list.

 

[VanIslander]

My friends and I played hockey with a regular 52-card deck.

Here's how it goes. It's a 2-player game. Shuffle and deal six cards placed faced down (no looking!) in the three forward, two defensemen and goalie positions in front of you and then your opponent does likewise, with your three forward cards matched up against theirs, RW vs. LW, C vs. C. Then each player gets 17 more cards for their bench (and 6 for referrees). Then you play. The center with the higher card wins the draw (2 to Ace, with Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs deciding tiebreaker in that order). If you have a clubs then your player played dirty and each player takes one of the referee cards and if your card is lower your player goes to the box and the other team gets a powerplay, but if yours is higher you get away with the dirty play and your lower club actually wins the play - e.g. 2 of clubs could actually beat Ace of Spades this way). As coach, you can decide to bench a clubs card after the play is finished or continue to use the card for the next play - when the six starting cards are reshuffled. As the game goes on, the better players will see more ice time as you will bench your 2s and 3s and play your Ks and As. So, if you win the face-off you then can pass to your RW or LW (you could pass back to D but that will mean an extra step to score, which is risky early in games but not so much later, when you have passed from C to RW to LW and notice your best cards haven't been turned over yet, so passing back makes sense because your D and/G must be your best card, as you become familiar with the six cards in your rotation from the last play before the reshuffle. So, C passes to a winger and the winger takes on the opposing winger. If he wins that battle then he takes on the dman and if he wins that he takes a shot on goal. Remember if the shooter and the goalie are the same level (e.g., both 9's) then Spades beats Diamonds, Diamonds, beats Hearts, Hearts beats Clubs, but if it's Clubs then the shooter gets a second shot on the rebound (shuffle the bench cards and each player plays one on the side, shooter vs. goalie action on the play to determine whether it was a goal or a save). Remember, clubs doesn't win ties but usually does dirty play so you risk a penalty every time you leave it in the rotation, but if you have a high clubs like K or A it's worth the risk because they always get rebound chances (no penalty risk when actually player vs. goalie shot is taken up close)! If, after the C wins the draw, the C passes back to the D then there is a risk that the forechecking opposition (either yet unseen winger card or the seen center card - your opponent as coach can decide) can cause a turnover and get a quick shot on net. So, of course you are not going to pass back if your center is an Ace and the opposition center is the King of Clubs! Because that forechecker will likely win the battle against the dman (card face down but about to be turned over) and even if he loses the battle, as a Club he can fowl the dman and get past him if the referee doesn't see the dirty play (as per referee vs. referee card played from the reshuffled six referee cards). It sounds complicated but the game really is easy to get the hang of. There are more little rules like for penalty shots and special teams play but I'm getting tired of writing this. LOL. You get the idea. It's quite easy and fun to play. I haven't played it since high school (back in the eighties). But now that I reminisce, I'll probably teach someone how to play before long and enjoy it once again.