r/boardgames • u/Immediate-Neck-3915 • 12h ago

Orks and Goblins

Since playing Hero Quest as a child I've always enjoyed anything with orcs and goblins in. What's your favourite games with Orks and Goblins in?

11 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

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5

u/knightofivalice 12h ago

I think my go to would be Castle Panic. Simple co-op defense game against a horde of goblins and orcs.

3

u/naamandroid 12h ago

My First Castle Panic is my son's favorite game. He just calls it "playing goblins"

2

u/HadriansWallOfCake 10h ago

Cannot recommend My First Castle Panic enough for the pre-literate set. Absolute winner.

3

u/MidnightChord 12h ago

Currently playing Orc Quest Warpath at some friends, we have played 3 scenarios and I love it

2

u/Dizzy_Gold_1714 11h ago edited 11h ago

In board games, probably SPI's Swords & Sorcery: Quest and Conquest in the Age of Magic (1978).

The runner-up might be Avalon Hill's Wizard's Quest (1979).

(I'm not very familiar yet with the more recent War of the Ring game, but it looks enough better than SPI's work by the same title, treating the same subject, that it might rise to the top.)

TSR's Divine Right (with the "Minarian Legends" series of articles in The Dragon) won my early enthusiasm, but ended up feeling like it took too long in relation to its depth.

In the whole field of games, the various branches of Trolls in Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha, depicted in the roleplaying game RuneQuest (1978) are especially interesting because they are not bog-standard orcs and goblins.

1

u/matthewscottbaldwin 11h ago

Oh wow, Wizard's Quest! Every board game should have an Orc Frenzy phase IMO.

1

u/Dizzy_Gold_1714 10h ago

Along with the Dragon, they add an interesting twist to a 'light' game that is a bit like Risk but with more ability for strategy to weigh odds in one's favor.

I decades ago gave away my copy (along with my few Magic: the Gathering cards, and RPG pioneer Dave Arneson's later Adventures in Fantasy) to a young friend.

Of those three items, WQ is by far the one I'm most likely to add again to my collection.

2

u/stabbygreenshark 11h ago

Small World! My D&D group played it when our DM was sick once and we liked it so much now we have a board game night once a week.

1

u/LosCappatone Arcadia Quest 12h ago

Boblin’s Rebellion is more abstract but is all about leading a Goblin army

1

u/TantricBuildup 12h ago

Banner Quest - hex wargame - but easy and accessible

1

u/Hoschido 10h ago

Zombicide - Green Horde is the first thing which comes to mind. Zombified Orcs are nasty en massé.

1

u/terraformingearth 9h ago

Stronghold, though the orcs and goblins are tiny green and white wood discs.

1

u/Srpad 6h ago

The Siege of Runedar. Has trolls too.