Born in 1977. I’ve played the SdJ winners of most of those years except Consulting Detective. Favorites from my childhood are: Auf Achse, Heimlich & Co, Sagaland, Barbarossa, Scotland yard & Dampfross. Dampfross must be behind my love for route building games.
I surely played some other games from the era later on but as we’re on vacation it’s a bit too complicated to check.
SdJ starts in 1979 afaik.
No they’re old
(I was born in 1984)
Bought this at a boot fair. ‘‘Twas Epic.
Also, all the cool kids were 8 in 89.
Raises a side topic of what our age range is here? I think we all know @RogerBW is the oldest, born some time in the late 700’s and then built his house on the druidspring that keeps him in Gandalf-mode indefinitely.
I’m 1980, somewhat mid-pack.
My general guess is largely accurate so far, a cluster around late Gen-x/early millennial and Roger.
I would suggest spinning this off to separate topic, but there’s not much to discuss.
The one game I still own from that period is DungeonQuest, and I think it holds up!
Games I re-acquired from that period are Cosmic Encounter, Space Hulk, and Blood Bowl, all good, except for Blood Bowl, which originally sucked and only became good after the turnover rule was introduced, which I think didn’t exist at the time.
Games forever lost since I left the country and gave away my collection are Battle of the Halji, Kings and Things, and everything Games Workshop ever printed: Talisman, Chainsaw Warrior, Rogue Trooper, Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, Block Mania, Judge Dredd, Dark Future, HeroQuest, Space Crusade, Advanced HeroQuest, Advanced Space Crusade, Battlefleet Gothic, and probably more that I have forgotten. I’m also not sure if the CCG craze had exploded onto the scene at that time or not.
I’m older than most of you.
I’m a little sad no one has mentioned Car wars. Or ogre.
I have SET which is cool. But. Scrolling the list it boggles my mind that A La Carte is a game from 1989?! That game has so much modern nonsense in it!
Edit: I missed it but I also have tales of Arabian Nights
In the 1980s I mostly played Car Wars and BattleTech (the boundaries between RPG which was what I played most, boardgame and wargame could be pretty fuzzy). A bit of Talisman but I didn’t think much of it even then. I played the original Arabian Nights once at a Games Fair.
Hmm, I remember being quite good at Warrior Knights. Saw Cosmic Encounter but didn’t get to play it.
Games from then in my collection now: newer editions of Ogre and Illuminati. Slightly more obscure and here because my wife has good memories of them:
basically domino-like but with more ways of matching
an early hidden-goals game: there are cats and toys, you have cards for one of each, and you can move any cat on your turn. Your goal is to get your cat to the toy it wants before anyone else gets theirs together.
Was born in 1991. But these are the games that I like that I own or/and played
Own:
Played:
1976 here.
Heroquest - probably the one that got me into gaming beyond the very common kids’ games.
(Ghost Castle, Buckaroo, Guess Who?, Mousetrap, Operation, Connect 4, Monopoly, etc.)
Advanced Heroquest - completely brilliant
Space Hulk - played briefly, my squad got very killed. Owned Space Crusade and Advanced Space Crusade, but they were 1990.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - bought recently during covid
Dune - bought the recent reprint
Escape from Colditz - definitely played this in the 80s
Talisman - played once in the 90s, then bought a load of it on Steam
Crossbows and Catapults - yep
Diplomacy - played at school, it’s the height of evil backstabby
There’s some titles in that list that look fascinating, but of all it, I really need to play Cosmic Encounter.
Ack, I forgot Diplomacy. I have played it, but don’t own it.
Honorable mention to my version of Star Fleet Battles, which was apparently 1990, so just misses out.
This is now reminding me that a lot of the games I played in the 90s were probably released inthe 80s, such as Rumminkib, which is solidly OK
Looking through the list there are some really good games but I wouldn’t go back. The depth and breadth isn’t there for me. I have fond memories of the GW games but wouldn’t play them now. Junta feels a great example of the 80s, fun theme if somewhat crass with over wrought rules and game play that basically recreates school yard pecking order and bullying dynamics. Lots of wargames too, maybe there was much working out needed to be done? Was it the 80s when crime rates started dropping drastically and some theorise that was to do with moving to unleaded petrol? Quack psychology interpretation implied 
As we talk through the subsequent eras I’ll be interested to see how many games or styles have legs from each era. Each of these will be personal no doubt but looking back at this section I’m glad to have played a lot through the modern explosion even if I am bored of many euros these days. I think I’m better off having miniature painting as a side of the wargaming I did. The mini tech allowed a movement away from hex and counter or equivalent styles which I’m pleased to have a separate hobby from the gaming. I’d have been better off getting in to computers sooner but the meditative aspect of painting is beneficial. I’m very glad for 1830 though and the way this more old school thing seeded a long tail that remains unique in its style of gaming.
Certainly most of the GW games I played and in some cases (Talisman, Block Mania and Chainsaw Warrior) owned - I had a group I played with so we did share the ownership around for the other games.
I’ve played quite a few of the others but don’t remember owning any other than Axis and Allies.
1977 here!
Someone noted, and I’ll echo, that most of us were kids here. So yeah, a lot of Sorry, Life, Mousetrap, Othello, etc. going on. Some memories that have popped into my head:
This just showed up in my house one day. Like, not a Birthday or Christmas present. Maybe a Church rummage sale or a hand me down or something? You could call this my first solo. It’s not so much a game as an educational tool: there are six maps of the six inhabited continents, and each country (1986 layout) has a number.
Easy mode, you get a name and have to find the number. Hard mode you get the number and have to name the country. That’s it.
I sat on the floor and did this thing like flashcards again and again and again. I’m thinking of my girls, now, doing a puzzle over and over again, just rehearsing what they’d mastered. Modern day I don’t know the Pacific Islands, Caribbean Islands, or West African countries by heart anymore (and I’m spotty on the 'stans, as they were all just “USSR” in this game) but I still like knowing where all the countries are.
I think someone gave this to my parents as a gift. Stupid, generic trivia game. But look at the board:
I’m pretty sure my version had an actual Quasar rather than a lame “Quizaar” because that word has always stuck with me and I trace it back to this thing.
Kind of sad, my family was never really interested in playing these things with me. So I would flip cards and try to answer the questions. But it was all about moving around the solar system and getting to the next orbit and the next deck that had the next planet on it. Honestly I think I never had much of a good time with this Trival Pursuit knockoff but I so remember the board and the planets and the Quasar.
I guess that’s games? It’s just the solar system. But the game gives you a piece, an avatar, and invites you to move around through it, and for a kid that was everything.
As mentioned, I was 9 at the end of the 1980s. I think by that time my parents had at the very least taught me spades and pitch. This was followed not long after by hearts, pinochle, canasta, and other games played with at least close to regular decks of cards (pinochle decks can be made from multiple regular decks, for example). That and things like Uno, Skip-Bo, Phase 10, and Rummikub are what I mostly remember playing with my family my entire childhood. I still have lots of regular decks, Uno, Skip-Bo, and Phase 10 decks, and I believe I have a copy of Rummikub. My parents certainly do and I still play most of these games with them and my middle school age niece when we’re in the same place.
Other than those “standards,” I remember playing a lot of a dexterity game made up of colored ping pong balls, a giant plastic tray, and colored plastic rings at my grandparents’ house with my cousins. We mostly played on the kitchen floor and had those balls going everywhere. BGG turns up this that has to be what I’m remembering.
Of the BGG list of games from the relevant years…
I currently own:
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective - one of the many reprint versions. Played through the first box of 10 cases and most of the second.
Cosmic Encounter - picked up a copy at a local thrift store a few years ago that had tons of expansions in the base box. Still haven’t played it.
Junta - won a copy at a game convention several years ago. Still haven’t played it.
Set - played this for the first time somewhere in high school, I think. Don’t actually own Set but do own the slightly more gamified Triology that can be used to also play set.
Rummikub - see intro paragraphs above
Balderdash - own it. like it ok but there are usually better options available.
Taboo- I think I stole my parents copy when I went off to college and still have it. Haven’t played it in years.
Scattegories - One of my favorite of this type of game. Played it a lot in college and just played it this past weekend with my husband’s brother’s family.
Dark Tower - never played the original but I have the new Restoration Game Return to. Close?
Sequence - might have played this one in the 1980s. I remember someone in our family camping group having a homemade board and playing with them. I do now own a copy.
Phase 10, Skip-Bo, and Uno - see into above
Star Wars: Escape from Death Star Game - my mom gave me a new version of this for Christmas a few years ago because I like games and I like Star Wars. I played it a couple times while still at home for Christmas and haven’t opened it since.
I’ve played:
Acquire - a favorite of a guy in my big game group I enjoy playing with so played his copy a few times. He has now moved (such a shame) so unsure if I will play again. Good game. I enjoy it.
Can’t Stop - Fun little game. Gave my niece a copy for Christmas a few years ago. Should remember to get her to bring it to my parents over Christmas, if her parents can find it. They had to have some major work done on their house recently and lots of stuff is boxed up in storage at the moment.
Boggle - inevitable to play at some point. I think this was making the rounds with my debate team in high school when we had down time.
Upwords - we had a copy of this when I was a kid. I preferred it to Scrabble back then and my dad did not so we always argued over which one to play.
Mastermind - my dad had a little brown plastic flip open version of this with pegs. Played it a lot with him and with my sister, possibly even in the 1980s but early 90s more likely.
Jenga - surely most people into board gaming have experienced this at some point? I would say my first dexterity game, but I think the bouncy ball one above came earlier.
Spoons - I mean, I played it as a kid with a regular deck of cards and regular kitchen spoons. No store bought version. Can’t remember the rules now.
Tri-Ominos - box looks very familiar. Suspect parents had it when I was a kid but I don’t remember playing it.
Perfection- friends owned this and I’d play with it at their house
Trivial Pursuit Genius Edition - we definitely had some edition when I was a kid; I think we had this and a Disney version that was not all Disney questions like the modern ones but simpler questions for kids
Connect 4, Guess Who, Twister, Hungry Hippos, Operation, Game of Life, Trouble - family game cupboard staples when I was a kid. Still have a Twister I haven’t touched since college and a Star Wars version of the Game of Life.
I used to have this masterpiece:
Completely ridiculous and a bit of a stretch to call it a board game 
This sounds kind of fire.
It is a whole lot better than I’d expect a 1984 game to be, even a 1984 game that brings back fond memories now.
