Games that Changed my Life: Stratego

[@scredola]

Great call Tom. Stratego was my first real strategy game too. I have great memories of playing with my brothers.

[@ExBeeOne]

This is a wonderful series.

[@Nexusofgeek]

I love love love Stratego, I found chess later in life but I can see parallels between the two games. Then as a lover of Tolkien, D&D and fantasy tropes I discovered the fire and ice fantasy variant of this game and I played it with my nephews. It is an amazing variant and one of the few good 2 player games out there. Highly recommend it

[@rpgbackgroundmusic9791]

Stratego was one of my "big" games as a kid as well. The concept of deception & hidden info in a chess-style game was so cool!

[@ThomasBeckingham]

Just taught this to my son 3 days ago, and he's played it about 10 times since then. This game has plenty of memories for me too, but I was surprised of how well designed it is. For a classic game this is one that I'm happy to play!

[@juvigoat2168]

Thanks Tom, you brought back memories of playing board games in the neighborhood, including Stratego. I don’t remember the numbers in our version, we called the pieces by their name, Marshall, Saboteur etc. Beautiful times.

[@tamassmahajcsik-szabo6408]

Stratego has just been discovered by my kids. We play this game on a daily basis. I must say this is still a really good strategy game. I like that's fast, can be played with a 5 year old, but also is engaging with adults. The game scales perfectly with different age groups. Also the 65th Anniversary Edition is just gorgeous.

[@dall1786]

A perfect game for this series because it had something more then just roll and move and required some real thought behind the setup and the play.

[@KabukiKid]

I have similar memories of Stratego... was an eye-opener of a game when I was little. I still say that it is probably the best of the mass market games out there. It is still fun to play even if you are a seasoned gamer.

I completly agree to this. I played ONE game of stratego but thought about this game and possible strategies for months and still do.

[@DarthNVious]

A similar (yet quite different) 2-player game, Game of the Generals, also exists. You have two winning conditions: capture your opponent's flag or maneuver your flag (it can move here) to any square to the far edge of the board. There are apps to help you out in case you are missing an arbiter (referee of sorts). You can also play online.

[@lewisbrooks5788]

Wow this brought back a lot of great memories. Still have the original game at my dad's house.

[@JoeyjojoShabadoo7]

Also, the creator of Hanamikoji has a new(er) game that borrows the strategy mechanic on a smaller scale, whilst adding other mechanics too...can’t remember the name off the top of my head here. Hopefully someone will know it!

[@dunyoss1463]

Shadows In Kyoto, which is a fantastic upgrade to Stratego. My father said he'd NEVER give up his copy of Stratego... until I gifted him Shadows in Kyoto and we played it. He was blown away and instantly said I could trash the old Stratego. boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/229741/shadows-kyoto

[@JoeyjojoShabadoo7]

Classic. Grew up playing this with my brother. Nice pick Mr Vasel sir 👍

[@edmundengland]

This was also a very important game for me. i played in school in the afternoons with other kids. I have never owned it but it was probably the game after chess that introduced me to strategy games.

[@filippersson5451]

Absolutely wonderful.

[@NVRMTmotion]

So many parallels with my experience with Stratego as a kid. Just this past Christmas I reclaimed my original copy from my parents basement. Gotta make sure I can keep track of it till my own kid is ready to dive into it!

[@markpapenfuss1111]

nvrmt, same here. Strategy belongs in the board game Hall of Fame.

[@wfp9378]

A friend had it and it always left me quite "cold". I preferred the more thematic titles like Waddingtons "Blast off", Triangs "Monaco Grand Prix" (I still have this) and Gibson's "Escape from Colditz" (still have it as well). I don't play them much but they remind me of pleasant child hood days in a way that Monopoly (published by Satan) doesn't.

[@steventhomas9531]

My favorite game of ALL TIME! I played my first game at 5, with the wooden pieces, and beat my teenage brother in my very first game! He got so mad that he flung the board and pieces at me. He shattered some pieces and Mom whooped him good for being a bad sport. I understood math quite phenomenally, and military ranks from my Army father well.

[@bornofashes]

This was the first game I thought about outside the game and how I’d play differently.

[@benfinegoldsociety8312]

chess is a very fair game. One knows the positions and status of all your opponent's pieces. There is no fog of war. Also, one mistake in chess could cost you the game. But in Stratego there is a fog of war, you need to scout out the opponent's formation etc. So, you could be making mistake one after another but win by sheer luck. Of course a good player would adapt and stay on top of things to prevent losing a "won game". I think chess, stratego, and finally go are the THREE grand strategic board games. Chess is tactical and pattern recognition heavy, stratego is planning and ploy heavy with uncertainty and memorization of the opponent's pieces required. Go is largely a strategic game, you can win a battle here and there in go but lose the war later on.

[@Goldtiger405]

Stratego the game I have never lost.

[@j.h.2967]

Imagine if a new Stratego video game was made - just like Chess Ultra from 2017.

[@Tennethums1]

Still my favorite game of all time.

[@DeadVoivod]

At some point I bought a deluxe version, had black & white pieces, some nice red insert, no plastic and a different looking board, was it snow? Also I never saw the pieces you have, our Strategos had completely round tower pieces, European version, looked much nicer in my opinion.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

I *still* love Stratego! The original one that is. I hate the new version in which the 10 is the strangest number now.

[@zajebex1]

so the numbers were backwards before?, I have a copy of this game, not that old but has a few years, and the stronger units are the ones with the biggest numbers

[@stoomkracht]

There weren't any numbers in mine game. A military rank, listed in order at the sides of the board. Also the pieces are little towers with engraved symbols. Pretty sure the current editions are worse. Maybe even stickers... ugh

[@JaKamps]

I like this serried (& this game). A game that changed my (gaming) life was HeroClix. (& Lunch Money)

[@yvesboydens251]

Euh. ...The pieces don't move differently. Only number 1 can move quicker or do I remember this incorrectly? Played it a lot as teenager....Still own a copy but haven't played in more then 2 decades probably ;-)

[@ClasmanFilms]

Right on! Right with ya:)

[@DinobotTM2]

Stratego is the best mass market game there is.

[@ccggenius]

What's your definition of "mass market"? A lot of stuff that would have been considered a hobby game a decade ago can now be found on the shelf at Target or Walmart. It's hard to argue games like Catan and TIcket to Ride are niche when you see reports of athletes playing them in the locker room...

[@TheProphet21]

Is this the first in this series?

[@OSB911]

Nope. The third, I think.

[@mkietzmann]

1st one here, too. I still have my original copy of it.

[@JaKamps]

Micro Machines ; )