The website, www.boardgamegeek.com, is a free online gaming community that focuses mainly on war games, strategy games and empire building games. Forum contributors say some of their favorite games include Agricola and Through the Ages: a Story of Civilization and Dominion, to name but two. Newcomers can register to the site to write their own game reviews, upload images and chat with other game enthusiasts. Visitors can read reviews, strategy tips, find opponents to play against and even buy games they can't find in stores. For the ultimate gamer, a community is an invaluable resource.

One reason why gamers come to www.boardgamegeek.com is to find new a strategy board game to buy. As of December 2008, the top-ranked game was Agricola. The average playing time for this game is 2 hours with 3-4 players. Agricola players start out as a farmer with a wife and from there, they must build a life for themselves. Using cards and double-sided tokens, players will try to build a house, grow crops during different harvest seasons, feed the children, raise livestock and survive. The countless strategies that may be employed in this game are what truly make it fun. The top game of 2007 (and #2 game on the 2008 list) was Puerto Rico. This 90-minute game is best played with four players, who act as colonial Puerto Rican plantation owners who must grow indigo, corn, tobacco, coffee and sugar better than their competition.

As with any virtual community, there are ways to connect with like minds on www.boardgamegeek.com. Users can read what others write in the forums. They can peruse "GeekLists" to find users with similar gaming interests. They can add "GeekBuddies" to see their friends' recent posts, reviews, ratings and comments. Members will receive "GeekGold" awards as they post new content to earn cool avatars and virtual currency for the community. The bottom line is that an online board games community is the best way to get all your gaming questions answered, seek new strategy hints, find new opponents, expand your game collection and flex your own expertise on this subject matter.

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