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Cool Board Games?
Megatron80
Registered User new member
Registered User new member
I am trying to find some cool board games that would interest me and my girlfriend. She is not into video games so i am looking for something that is maybe a little more than your normal target board game isle, but not so overly complicated that she does not want to even try. Any help would be great thanks.
Megatron80 on
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to be more helpful- maybe try out Forbidden Island. Cheap, easy to learn, cooperative so you don't have to sleep on the couch.
I don't like it, not one bit.
For the OP: What kinds of games are you thinking of? Puzzle? Strategy?
Do you want games where it's every player vs. every other player? Teams? The players vs. the board?
Are you looking for games for just you and her or will you be including other people regularly?
Mr. Jack is a pretty fun 2 player game that I know of that isn't overly complicated.
If there will be a group of people playing, then Scotland Yard is absolutely aces.
My wife and I also really like Lost Cities. It's less interactive than Carcassone, which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how competitive you guys are.
I haven't tried Forbidden Island, but Pandemic was made by the same guy and is a great deal of fun for 2, and is cooperative as well.
Samurai - the Knizia game, not the wargame. In fact, there are heaps of great Knizias for beginning boardgamers (the doctor did cash in on his fame with some games, so do check before jumping on anything with his name on it).
Bohnanza - Uwe Rosenberg's first real claim to fame. Not super with 2 though. There are tons of cheap, fun, easy and fast-playing card games in the section you'll find this of any decent game shop, but Bohnanza is an excellent starting point. Lots of expansions too.
Citadels - the more players the better, with one exception: I think the two-player game where both players pick up two characters per round instead of one is better than 3-4-5-player.
You should be able to pick these up fairly cheap too - even H!TMF! deluxe.
A couple of comments on previous suggestions, if nobody minds:
Carcassonne is a very good suggestion. Scoring really isn't all that difficult (although there are two versions of the scoring rules, depending on where you get the game), but for players who really want to consider all their options properly - especially once you add a few expansions, and you really should consider at least the first 2-3 of those - this may lead to some analysis paralysis.
Ticket to Ride: good, but don't get the vanilla game. Get Europe or Märklin, or at least the 1910 expansion to go with vanilla TtR. Or if you're only going to play 2- or 3-player games, get Nordic Countries. Nordic and Märklin are out of print, they'll be getting difficult to find at some point.
Settlers: mixed bag. I think it's actually fairly flawed, and really needs a few expansions to be bearable. On the other hand, the few occasions it makes the table I really enjoy it.
Mr Jack is one of the best deduction games out there IMO. Really good. Just don't get into an argument about who gets to play what.
This (and Settlers of Catan) is also available on the 360, if you happen to have one. Same game, less hassle with tiles and keeping score.
edit:
Seconding this. On our geeky board game evenings one group usually plays a few rounds of this while we wait for the other group to finish what they're playing before making new groups for the next round of games.
Rattus
It's a tactical board game about the plague. It has pretty simple rules and it doesn't take too long.
Be sure to check out Small World. Published by the same company as ticket to Ride and scales very well. 2 - 6 players IIRC.
If you're into logic games: pentago or pylos.
I heard about it on the last episode of the Idle Thumbs Podcast (51), which you can listen to if you'd like. It runs from about 19:20 to ~26:00. Supposed to be played with minimum 3 people, but they made up a 2 player version.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12830/die-weinhandler
Just a quick warning if you were thinking of getting Catan on the 360 - you won't be able to play against your girlfriend locally, unless that's something they've patched in. Even then it wouldn't be ideal as you'd be able to see each others cards etc on their respective turns. It will probably be cheaper than an actual boxed copy, so it might be useful to see if she enjoys it, but it won't be like having a boxed copy.
Of the three, I have found Ticket to Ride is the easiest for traditional American gamers to get.
http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198006524737
Boardgamegeek gets fresh lists and threads about gateway games fairly regularly, and you can get tons of specific info about the games mentioned too there. It's easily the best internet resource for boardgames (and now also RPGs!) there is, so I'd mosey on over there too if you're thinking of dipping your feet in "our" end of the geek pool.
Those three have all worked really well as gateway games for me. One other one that's worked well is Tikal. It introduces a lot of the more complex elements (hex tiles, building the board as you go, moving little guys around) but the presentation is attractive and the concepts are easy to explain. As another plus, it works very well with 2 players even though (as usual) it's even better with more.
Absolutely true.
Yes, Pandemic is a great game, especially if you have a group of hyper-competitive people as you either all win or all lose.
Spoilers for too much text for a totp.
Those games are mad basic compared to what we've suggested. I'd recommend picking up Carcassonne (The two player game is fun and only as cutthroat as you want it to be) and Forbidden Island. Both are cheap, so you'll only be out 30ish dollars if she doesn't like both of them.
Carc
Forbidden Island
Word on the Street
All these games can be found at your local barnes and noble (although they'll be more expensive than if you just ordered them online), and their rules can be explained in under five minutes.