I think she would really like something that other friends can join us in. I think she'd enjoy a two player game as well, but right now I'm focusing on games that are best played with 4-6 people (but can still be played 2 player so that she can learn with just the two of us).
tzeentchlingDoctor of RocksOaklandRegistered Userregular
There's also the classic think-y games too that you might consider, like Set or Othello, if you want to focus on mental sharpness. Levels of fun may vary however.
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
Speaking of competition, Everdell backing ends in about 11 hours. The art is so nice looking but I don't know what to make of the gameplay description.
I think she would really like something that other friends can join us in. I think she'd enjoy a two player game as well, but right now I'm focusing on games that are best played with 4-6 people (but can still be played 2 player so that she can learn with just the two of us).
OK, I think that's half my gaming cabinet... If you have a bunch of casual* gamers at the table I can't recommend Nuns on the Run and Dixit enough. They are semi-party games, as they only require one person to know the rules and everyone else to follow orders and laugh at the mistakes of others. I dunno, there's probably a better description out there.
There's always the golden "welcome to modern boardgames" options of Carcassonne, Splendor, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride. Personally I am a fan of Tokaido, as it is a bit like Game of Goose and other dumb "roll and move" games, but instead the goal is to land on as many tiles as possible and force opponents to reach the final destination in less moves than you. It has the added benefit of looking great**.
*As in: maybe they own a copy of Catan and they used to beat their little brother in Monopoly growing up.
**The Kickstarter for the art book is live now.
I think she would really like something that other friends can join us in. I think she'd enjoy a two player game as well, but right now I'm focusing on games that are best played with 4-6 people (but can still be played 2 player so that she can learn with just the two of us).
This even more solidifies my Pandemic recommendation.
I think she would really like something that other friends can join us in. I think she'd enjoy a two player game as well, but right now I'm focusing on games that are best played with 4-6 people (but can still be played 2 player so that she can learn with just the two of us).
I brought my family into board gaming with Dominion. This was back when it was new, and there certainly are more interesting deck builders out there now, but the ones I play are just Dominion with added complexity on top. The original should still be a great introduction to gaming. The rules are pretty simple: play an action card if you have one, do what it says, count up your money from treasure and action card(s) played then buy a card to add to your deck. Clean up and draw back up. The fun comes from the way action cards work and interact with other action cards. Some let you do additional actions, some give you free cards, some will hurt other players. Each game will have ten different action cards so each game is never the same.
Charterstone is another option, its a worker placement that starts off super simple but every game adds more and more rules so that before you know it you're playing a fully formed euro with out the hour long rules explanation. Though, it kind of is set up for a consistent set of 4-6 people, so maybe not so great if your group attendance is sporadic.
From my personal experience, I wouldn't advise teaching people board gaming through Co-ops, unless you are fine working as a referee only. Since you have to collaborate to win the game, as a more experience player it will likely end with you quarterbacking the team. For the other players, it's no fun to just take the actions someone else tells them to win a game.
regarding Dominion: there is a starter version out there called Kingdom of Dominion, which is reasonably priced and is filled with cards that play well together. If you don't already have a few pounds of Dominion cards stashed away somewhere I recommend you start with that Kingdom-edition.
We finished our Mansions of Madness 1st edition game today, Fall of the House of Lynch
I, the Keeper, won. It got kind of close, their final objective was to kill the insane Walter Lynch while I just needed to run out the clock. They rolled to attack him with the shotgun 5 times. They missed all 5 times. 3 of the rolls were 10's (which are critical misses). They dropped the shotgun twice. The final shotgun roll would've killed him. It was one of the 10's. The main foyer was dark so all their combat rolls were -2 and I made one of them throw their lantern away earlier so they couldn't light it up. 2 were driven insane, I killed one on the final turn with an Insanity card and the other was killed by his insane buddy, slicing him with an axe.
It made for a very exciting and fitting finale. We're gonna set up the game for story 2 tomorrow.
I actually like Lords of Waterdeep as an intro-level game. It's a good introduction to worker-placement. Bonus if you appreciate the theme, but you can easily abstract it away.
I find it hard to remember Lords of Waterdeep has a theme. Whenever I've seen it played or explained, it's a game about gathering four colors of cubes and then spending them to complete objectives. I guess some of those cubes represent wizards? But who knows which color of cubes they are, or what it means to be acquiring and spending them.
I mean... Without looking or having played in ages?
Orange = Warrior
Black = Rogue
White = Cleric
Purple = Wizard
I'm not sure I realised the cubes were meant to be adventurers
Yup! The theme in LoW works as far as you let it. It can be a cube pusher, or you can imagine what it means that the (totally made up:) mission to rob the Waterdeep bank or something needs 4 Rogues and 2 Warriors to complete, and the payoff is 15 gold and some points.
I think she would really like something that other friends can join us in. I think she'd enjoy a two player game as well, but right now I'm focusing on games that are best played with 4-6 people (but can still be played 2 player so that she can learn with just the two of us).
As others have said, Pandemic is hard to go wrong with for an introductory game. 2-4 players, easy enough to pick up, neat theme, save the world. *thumbs up*
Ticket To Ride is the old standby for a reason. The theme isn't that strong mind you, but the game play is still a good balance of limited decisions with meaningful choice. 2-5.
Tokaido is pretty great, but it's kind of a joke with 2 players. You can learn it that way, but definitely a game for 3-5. Amazing artwork, simple choices, not overwhelming~
Arcane Academy is a smart gem of a game set in a Harry Potter-like world. Players build up their boards to be able to complete assignments (play cards) that give them points and abilities. 2-4 and fine at any of those player counts.
Vitaculture is on the low end of strategy games where the theme is pretty accessible and direct with your actions, and does 2-6 players. Might be a good fit, not sure it's what you should start with?
Sushi Go! is a great introduction to drafting games and generally beloved by non-gamers for its incredible arty style. 3-6 players
Honestly, most of this list is "kind of boring" in that the games aren't really new, but truthfully a lot of the solid, classic gateway games still are solid, classic gateway games. You don't need to try and reinvent the wheel here. :P
Got Potion Explosion for Christmas and it is my wife's new favorite. Have played it 12 times in less than a month. Three weeks really. We have never done that with a game before.
She does not enjoy Tiny Epic Quest, though I enjoy it.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Anyone here familiar with palace of mad king Ludwig?
Anyone here familiar with palace of mad king Ludwig?
We've played it a couple of times. Fun. Even got my Mom in for a game and she almost willfully ignores instructions and comes at games absent minded and she had no problems.
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
I'll begrudgingly acknowledge that some people absolutely love this game, yes. But my experience is that it's incredibly dull as a 2-player game, so YMMV ...
Ludwig's become our standard filler game despite being a bit long for it; the thing people are always happy to play. Suburbia without the hideous math.
I'm not sure I realised the cubes were meant to be adventurers
Yup! The theme in LoW works as far as you let it. It can be a cube pusher, or you can imagine what it means that the (totally made up:) mission to rob the Waterdeep bank or something needs 4 Rogues and 2 Warriors to complete, and the payoff is 15 gold and some points.
My favorite is the mission "Tame Owlbears". One of the rewards is a single warrior. We always assume that cube represents the Owlbear.
Got to play Burgle Bros on the iPad tonight with my wife. Fun little puzzle of making the most of your turn. We'll see if it catches on and becomes something I buy the physical game to play.
I had met Tim at Unplugged and after talking to him still wasn't sure if she would enjoy it, but he mentioned the app so I had to get it at least that way. Super nice guy. I feel bad a bit that I didn't mingle more with some of the people running the booths. Really hope to go again next year.
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AthenorBattle Hardened OptimistThe Skies of HiigaraRegistered Userregular
Yeah. Palace just came out today.
Given that my friends with Castles moved away, I figured.. let's fill that hole with something new!
So Petersen Games new project goes on Kickstarter Monday and Sandy Petersen has BEGRUDGINGLY returned to BGG to stump up money for it. As you recall, he left in a snit because people rightfully called him out as sexist (but then also went a little too far and called him misogynist) for saying that he made the Tcho-Tcho faction for Cthulhu Wars simple so "your girlfriend can play it" as well as going on a hideous screed where he described "the Venge" as a "twisted ex-girlfriend type" civ.
Now he says he'll only post in the new game's forum despite "being attacked by SJWs."
He is very stubbornly holding onto his ignorance, I guess. He certainly can never be wrong!
It is ridiculous, is what I am saying. Why would he complain about BGG of all places?
Well, he was right to get upset at being called misogynistic. But to not engage with the people that had a problem and just taking his ball and going home like a 2 year old was ridiculous. And to come back and show that not only did he not learn a single thing from it but to simply attack back is pretty inexcusable.
I am hugely unimpressed by the balance of some of the expansion factions.
Oh absolutely. Opener is still a beast to try and win with, Windwalker easily powers its way through most games and the Tcho-Tcho are still a broken joke.
So last night I sat down with my wife and ran her through 14 games based on recommendations you guys gave. I basically just read the description to her on BGG, and showed her a few pictures of each game set up to give her an idea of what it looks like in play, and then let her know what the relative complexity rating was on BGG as well.
After all was said and done, the ones she liked the most were Caverna (despite the complexity) and Evolution. So I think I'm going to pick up both if my local store has them. It seems that the more fantastic the theme, the less likely she was going to be interested in it. Also, she didn't want to do co-op at all, and she wanted something we could learn as two players, and then spread to a larger group of folks.
So last night I sat down with my wife and ran her through 14 games based on recommendations you guys gave. I basically just read the description to her on BGG, and showed her a few pictures of each game set up to give her an idea of what it looks like in play, and then let her know what the relative complexity rating was on BGG as well.
After all was said and done, the ones she liked the most were Caverna (despite the complexity) and Evolution. So I think I'm going to pick up both if my local store has them. It seems that the more fantastic the theme, the less likely she was going to be interested in it. Also, she didn't want to do co-op at all, and she wanted something we could learn as two players, and then spread to a larger group of folks.
One of the things my local game store is renting games. Most game stores have some kind of demo wall.
It might be cheaper to go that route if you have access to it?
Posts
*fistshakeemoji*
Well, there's Game 1 for 2018 for me.
OK, I think that's half my gaming cabinet... If you have a bunch of casual* gamers at the table I can't recommend Nuns on the Run and Dixit enough. They are semi-party games, as they only require one person to know the rules and everyone else to follow orders and laugh at the mistakes of others. I dunno, there's probably a better description out there.
There's always the golden "welcome to modern boardgames" options of Carcassonne, Splendor, Pandemic and Ticket to Ride. Personally I am a fan of Tokaido, as it is a bit like Game of Goose and other dumb "roll and move" games, but instead the goal is to land on as many tiles as possible and force opponents to reach the final destination in less moves than you. It has the added benefit of looking great**.
*As in: maybe they own a copy of Catan and they used to beat their little brother in Monopoly growing up.
**The Kickstarter for the art book is live now.
This even more solidifies my Pandemic recommendation.
perhaps
because
it is amazing
I brought my family into board gaming with Dominion. This was back when it was new, and there certainly are more interesting deck builders out there now, but the ones I play are just Dominion with added complexity on top. The original should still be a great introduction to gaming. The rules are pretty simple: play an action card if you have one, do what it says, count up your money from treasure and action card(s) played then buy a card to add to your deck. Clean up and draw back up. The fun comes from the way action cards work and interact with other action cards. Some let you do additional actions, some give you free cards, some will hurt other players. Each game will have ten different action cards so each game is never the same.
Charterstone is another option, its a worker placement that starts off super simple but every game adds more and more rules so that before you know it you're playing a fully formed euro with out the hour long rules explanation. Though, it kind of is set up for a consistent set of 4-6 people, so maybe not so great if your group attendance is sporadic.
From my personal experience, I wouldn't advise teaching people board gaming through Co-ops, unless you are fine working as a referee only. Since you have to collaborate to win the game, as a more experience player it will likely end with you quarterbacking the team. For the other players, it's no fun to just take the actions someone else tells them to win a game.
It made for a very exciting and fitting finale. We're gonna set up the game for story 2 tomorrow.
I mean... Without looking or having played in ages?
Orange = Warrior
Black = Rogue
White = Cleric
Purple = Wizard
Yup! The theme in LoW works as far as you let it. It can be a cube pusher, or you can imagine what it means that the (totally made up:) mission to rob the Waterdeep bank or something needs 4 Rogues and 2 Warriors to complete, and the payoff is 15 gold and some points.
As others have said, Pandemic is hard to go wrong with for an introductory game. 2-4 players, easy enough to pick up, neat theme, save the world. *thumbs up*
Ticket To Ride is the old standby for a reason. The theme isn't that strong mind you, but the game play is still a good balance of limited decisions with meaningful choice. 2-5.
Tokaido is pretty great, but it's kind of a joke with 2 players. You can learn it that way, but definitely a game for 3-5. Amazing artwork, simple choices, not overwhelming~
Arcane Academy is a smart gem of a game set in a Harry Potter-like world. Players build up their boards to be able to complete assignments (play cards) that give them points and abilities. 2-4 and fine at any of those player counts.
Vitaculture is on the low end of strategy games where the theme is pretty accessible and direct with your actions, and does 2-6 players. Might be a good fit, not sure it's what you should start with?
Sushi Go! is a great introduction to drafting games and generally beloved by non-gamers for its incredible arty style. 3-6 players
Honestly, most of this list is "kind of boring" in that the games aren't really new, but truthfully a lot of the solid, classic gateway games still are solid, classic gateway games. You don't need to try and reinvent the wheel here. :P
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
She does not enjoy Tiny Epic Quest, though I enjoy it.
We've played it a couple of times. Fun. Even got my Mom in for a game and she almost willfully ignores instructions and comes at games absent minded and she had no problems.
What'chu wanna know? It's a lot like Suburbia at a base level - more interesting market system and way more combo-y.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
Oh, wait, yeah. Castles. My bad! My eyes just slipped over that part.
My favorite is the mission "Tame Owlbears". One of the rewards is a single warrior. We always assume that cube represents the Owlbear.
Speaking of Vast, any tips for 1st timers? We will be doing 4 player no thief.
Just a really hard game to teach! Try to get everyone to be patient for the first round while the roles become clearer.
I had met Tim at Unplugged and after talking to him still wasn't sure if she would enjoy it, but he mentioned the app so I had to get it at least that way. Super nice guy. I feel bad a bit that I didn't mingle more with some of the people running the booths. Really hope to go again next year.
Given that my friends with Castles moved away, I figured.. let's fill that hole with something new!
It's... interesting. I need to see how it plays.
Castles of Mad King Ludwig is quite loved by all my friends.
Now he says he'll only post in the new game's forum despite "being attacked by SJWs."
He is very stubbornly holding onto his ignorance, I guess. He certainly can never be wrong!
You mean the massively sexist, straight white males that make up 95% of BGG?
Yeah, yeah they are actually. The defend the fucker constantly.
Well, he was right to get upset at being called misogynistic. But to not engage with the people that had a problem and just taking his ball and going home like a 2 year old was ridiculous. And to come back and show that not only did he not learn a single thing from it but to simply attack back is pretty inexcusable.
Now I’m really glad I didn’t get it, fuck that guy .
I am hugely unimpressed by the balance of some of the expansion factions.
Oh absolutely. Opener is still a beast to try and win with, Windwalker easily powers its way through most games and the Tcho-Tcho are still a broken joke.
After all was said and done, the ones she liked the most were Caverna (despite the complexity) and Evolution. So I think I'm going to pick up both if my local store has them. It seems that the more fantastic the theme, the less likely she was going to be interested in it. Also, she didn't want to do co-op at all, and she wanted something we could learn as two players, and then spread to a larger group of folks.
One of the things my local game store is renting games. Most game stores have some kind of demo wall.
It might be cheaper to go that route if you have access to it?