7 Great beginner games to start your board game collection

[@FlamingGear]

Wheels: "If you had a bike, car and bus, you could say.." Me, immediately: WHEELS Wheels: "...vehicle"

[@reikenkayzer]

I was thinking the same thing :P

[@DemonicaaD14]

I was thinking of transport

[@dicebreaker]

Oh God damn it

[@OsciideeOTDC]

Splendor is definitely the best gateway game! Such a simple design, I haven’t met a single person that doesn’t like it, board game fan or not

[@timelostfox3488]

I was kind of surprised Splendor didn't make their list!

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

Splendor can be appreciated by any type of board gamer. It's a game worth the price, for sure. Excellent replayability and something you can fit into a single hour.

[@zrailtheauthor6611]

I dub thee: The Meeple Episode. When I first learned that word, I could not stop saying it. A slight warning for Ticket to Ride beginners: Try not to bump the game board. Sure that could be advice for any board game, but resetting a Ticket to Ride board is a special kind of pain in the neck.

[@MegaHentai00]

As Wil Wheaton found out the hard way on that one episode of Tabletop.

[@boobah5643]

'Pain in the neck?' Some kind of weird rhyming slang, because I'm pretty sure the phrase you're looking for is 'train wreck.'

[@MidwestArtMan]

One of my favorites is Flashpoint Fire Rescue. The random element of where the fire spreads and where the civilians are makes it infinitely replayable.

[@Amaritudine]

I appreciate Flashpoint for being 100% co-operative, too. No competition between the players, only a need to communicate and collaborate in response to a dynamic and ever-present set of challenges.

[@diogomartins4588]

2 board games I find really fun: Saboteur: You split into a team of Normal Dwarves and one of saboteurs. The dwarves mine their way to the gold (using premade cards) while the saboteurs try to stop them. The catch is that the no one knows who's who and everyone tries to convince each other they're they are normal dwarves. There are also cards that make you skip your turn until you can free yourself of them, which makes it quite fun when you're a saboteur and convince everyone that a normal dwarf player is a saboteur themselves. (There are other roles and some wild cards but this is the gist of it.) intrigue: 4 People start with their own castle and must place tokens on each others castles. Each castle has 4 possible houses for these tokens, each with different value. The objective of the game is to be the person who at the end has the most money. The interesting thing about it is that the whole game is you talking to your friends and making deals to see who get which houses. The game will eventually derail completely and you'll be dealing with completely arbitrary things. I once saw a player getting another player's most valued house out of threatening to hit on his sister (he wouldn't but we all knew she had a crush of him). P.S: this game can get pretty personal.

[@jonathanpickles2946]

I always found intrigue more fun to watch than to play.

[@diogomartins4588]

@@jonathanpickles2946 An watch the chaos? I get ya xD I seems everyone gets mad at each other for a while after playing this game.

[@jonathanpickles2946]

@@diogomartins4588 spot on !

[@MarSara1]

Love Letters (especially the Batman version) is a great quick and easy game to teach people with a bit of counting card skill and competitive edge

[@ahybridbassist]

Misread "Colt Express" as "Cult Express" and now I really want an occult-themed train board game.

[@fazzi4019]

I believe there's a scenario in the arkham card game that occurs in a moving train. Looks pretty fun!

[@jonathanpickles2946]

@@fazzi4019 Essex County Express. AH cardgame is very good.

[@malstram]

Don't know if it counts a beginner game but a friend got me into Dominion and I loved it from the first turn.

[@polygonaltree1566]

I definitely agree. Dominion is one of the easiest to learn and purest deck building games out there. A fantastic introduction to deck building games, and a very fun one too. So many expansions too, though the base game is still very good.

[@seanthebluesheep]

I really appreciate the subtitle that came up in the notification "FINAL" Good channel everyone, done everything we wanted to, now pack it all up and let's go home. I'm also glad I now know where a board game cafe in my town's name came from "Thirsty Meeples"

[@aSinisterKiid]

I had never heard of meeples before the other day until Johnny kept saying "meeples" in another video I was watching, but I thought he was saying "Meatballs" and I was so confused. It finally clicked by the end that meeples were little people pieces hahaha

[@dannya1612]

From Oxford by any chance ???

[@mpbMKE]

@@aSinisterKiid I had assumed it was "meatballs," as well.

[@kunegund9690]

It's from Carcassone!

[@frodobaggins7710]

My proper introduction to these types of board games was Betrayal at House on the Hill, but my favourite is a game called Sky Traders

[@nickdejager8873]

Love Betrayal, one of my favorites, but I'm not sure it would work for most people as a gateway game. There are a lot of moving parts in there.

[@CottonCandySharks]

I love Betrayal! It was my first too :D

[@alwaysp3ng848]

I'm addicted to Betrayal...easily my favourite game

[@worsethanyouthink]

I would suggest 'Settlers of Catan' before Carcassonne though I don't know if it quite fits the bill

[@AndrewMcColl]

Carcassonne is definitely a better starting point, especially for those new to boardgames. I would even posit it's the better game since you're more in control of what you do, not hoping for a good die roll.

[@worsethanyouthink]

@@AndrewMcColl yeah but unless it's your very first time it's alot Easter to handle and very much like Monopoly and easy to learn, it took my about 4ish times of actually playing the game to get Carcassonne but learned Catan' just by watching it

[@danolive6950]

I was thinking the same thing, Catan is always the first one I recommend for beginners

[@michaeldavis4651]

I played Settlers of Catan for the first time last weekend, and I picked it up pretty quickly. Granted, I have always been a very quick learner.

[@worsethanyouthink]

@@michaeldavis4651 yeah the rules are simple and easy to memorize

[@HundredLeafOrchid]

Kings of Tokyo is a great beginner game that I’ve often used to bring people into the hobby (because who doesn’t like the old school Godzilla films?). Easy to teach/play, with bright and colourful cards/game pieces (not forgetting the big beefy dice it comes with of course). It’s just a nice quick versus game.

[@TheLeannansidhe]

Everyone should try Munchkins at least once, its hilarious. Mag-Blast is also a nice little bit of fun. Battlestations is a must for sure.

[@dgtlrn]

Coup is, hands down, the single most played game on my shelf. Everyone loves it. I do recommend however getting the expansion for it; Coup Reformation. The added ability to change yours or an enemies faction (and therefore force people into attacking someone other than you), is delightfully evil.

[@FedoraPirate]

I love Reformation so much! It adds so much to the game with so little. It fixes the (small) problems coup has of duke being super powerful (at least in the early game) and the fact that in the late game you can just end up in a position with no way out. Plus added interaction and shenanigans is always good.

[@MoriMemento117]

That explanation of Coup was seriously the best game explanation I've ever heard! Great Job! As for what got me into the hobby: Pandemic - around 9 or 10 years ago. Still a fantastic game!

[@HGrimm23]

My family does game nights during the holidays - Codenames and Forbidden Island are two favourites for sure along with Forbidden Desert, Flux, and Cockroach Poker :D

[@D20-j1r]

Some great choices there! Azul and photosynthesis would be in my list tactile gateway games

[@d3x7r0]

Let me add another one I think is pretty cool for beginners as well: Saboteur Building out a mine, trying to get some nice shiny gems out while one of the players is actively trying to kill everyone else is very fun. It's also a simple card game so it fits in your backpack and is really easy to pick up and play.

[@sinzalia3000]

Omg robo rally! An old classic that is hilarious. Program your robot to try and get around the factory to get to the flag first. Conveyer belts, holes, accidental pushing makes it so much fun. Having different boards make each round unique and it never gets boring

[@JoshuaKrogman]

I have to say....I have a large batch of games, and I have all but one of these (Coup). I totally agree with each description you have given! Very nice array of starter games!

[@keegantrott1016]

For the more silly RPG inclined, "Munchkin" is a good one to kick off a collection. The rules are a bit wonky at first glance, but once it gets going, it's pretty fun to play.

[@FedoraPirate]

Biggest problem with munchkin is everyone starts to hold on to their "take that" cards to stop someone else until they're level 9, and then it just turns into an absolute grind of a game with everyone sitting at level 9 for ages. If you play fast and loose and don't take it too seriously it can be fine but the game falls apart annoyingly easily.

[@angrytheclown801]

@@FedoraPirate That's why I find a house rule allowing cheating works so well. One of the creators joked that it's not cheating if you don't get caught. Well, if you have friends that don't get butthurt about it, cheating turns it into a frenetic game where gotcha cards are no guarantee of success towards the end. But only if your pals aren't going to freak out.

[@cardboardgeek]

On the Ticket to Ride front, London and New York are very portable and very digestible. Love Letter always a good portable. Age of War I can reduce to two ziplocks and stick in my shirt pocket! And it's a Reiner Knitzia game! On a final note with portables, Epic Tiny Galaxies. Fantastically compact for the game you get and I often take this with my two ziplocs of Age of War tucked inside for a combo. Honorable mention to Sushi Go and King of Tokyo. Loving this channel so far, keep it up!

[@thedragonsbattle6019]

I do recommed the card game fluxx, it comes in many variants from Aliens, Monty Python and Cthulhu. It is an ever changing game, and it is quite easy to learn. Love the channel, keep it up!

[@FedoraPirate]

Many more experienced gamers dislike Fluxx, finding it "too random and silly" making long term strategy difficult and likely to drag on or end anti-climactically.

[@kaybraywarriner7431]

I was just signing in to say that Fluxx was a good shout- silly and random perhaps, but if all you know is Monopoly and Scrabble, it’s a good introduction to a different kind of game. And I think it is possible to attempt to be strategic while playing as well...

[@thedragonsbattle6019]

@@FedoraPirate I can see that, but when you are only playing a pub game over a pint, the sillyness can really brighten up the night

[@thedragonsbattle6019]

@@kaybraywarriner7431 At least in some version, like Cthulhu, enable you to strategies a bit more than other versions.

[@kaybraywarriner7431]

TheDragons Battle haven’t played Cthulhu; I’m a big fan of Star Fluxx and the Monty Python one though...

[@shawnheatherly]

Always nice to have more options for beginners.

[@scyfy99]

Settlers of Catan! Risk is another huge contribution to my board game love, but Catan is what really kicked it off

[@InfelixSoror]

Absolutely agree with the Carcassone recommendation - played it for the first time with a handful of other newcomers, one person who (thankfully) knew what was what, and no shared languages across the whole group - and we still had an absolute blast.

[@ReverendSID]

For anyone interesting in these kinds of games but lacking people to play them with - All of these except for Codenames are also available on iOS.

[@laterkater4213]

ReverendSID Yes! I sucked at Carcassonne and hated playing with my friends until I started playing the IOS app and started understanding various strategies 👍

[@hannahwren6289]

Settlers of Catan is a classic, and one of my favorite board games to play is Splendor.

[@joshuadavidson6542]

I would recommend munchkin. It's fun and there's all sorts of different themes to play with.

[@emilycoutu3458]

Joshua Davidsonu whats munchkin?

[@taronzgaming7739]

@@emilycoutu3458 It's a small board game, fairly easy. Basically you each play a level 1 generic human guy to start. But you get equipment, classes, curses, monsters to deal with. When you kill a monster, you earn a level. Get to level 10 first, and you win. The basics of the game are fairly simple, but there can be a lot of bartering and treachery going on if someone runs into a fight they can't handle, or should be able to beat easily. You could search TableTop Munchkin and watch a game played there to get a bit of a better overview.

[@PayasYouListen]

Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride are staples of my group's board game nights. If we want a long game though, we play Escape from Colditz, and I recently found my dad's Waddington's Formula 1 for some racing action if we're not in the mood for Flamme Rouge.

[@peterhague5626]

Went to the game cafe in town for the first time this evening and played Rampage. Dead simple, completely ridiculous, a good time had by all. I think they have monthly scythe nights which I'm keen for since your video on that

[@FedoraPirate]

For anyone looking for Rampage it is now known as "Terror in Meeple City"

[@peterhague5626]

@@FedoraPirate Good knowledge. That could have caused me quite a lot if upset tomorrow. Thank you, 😊

[@thomasjackson1738]

I would have suggested Loveletter (there are several themed ones). You have one card in your hand. On your turn you draw one card then play one card. Simple, lots of fun, and easy.

[@tristanm4332]

if you like love letter you should try the lost legacy games it has very similar rules to love letter and has tons of different cards with different rules depending which version of lost legacy you play

[@_Hofnarr]

I am loving this channel guys, keep up the good work! Any chance we could get an overhead cam of the games? So far, on every video, while i can see your lovely faces (and magnificent beards) with no problem, I have a really hard time getting any feeling for the games in question and either a PiP of the overhead shot, or even just an occasional cut to it, would really help. Totally understand if that's too much editing or tech for a new channel and will happily keep watching without but thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks again for the great content.

[@shawngillogly6873]

My 1st hobby board game: Dominion. And still the most played by far. Killer Bunnies gets a lot of love too.

[@SaplingxAura]

Can we get a list of great portable games and RPGs?

[@yanickduchesne2267]

I mean a backpack can always be use to make them portable i guess? :P

[@juliemichellerobinson1841]

@Saplyng A year late,, but just in case anyone is still looking... Bag of Dungeon, Pocket Dungeon Quest, and the printable 'pocket dungeon' complete with "stealth dice" spring to mind (use postit notes as dice and get away with playing at work?). For actually playing with other people, Lasers and Feelings fits on two sheets of paper, and Maze Rats is pretty simple, quick and easy and doesn't require stuff or planning. Pocket Quest (from Open Adventure on github) also fits on two sides of A4 paper.

[@A6by]

I mean, most RPGs are portable. They're just a book and some paper. A lot don't ever use tiles/graph paper, and some don't use dice. I'd recommend Everyone Is John, Skew, and Thousand Year Old Vampire, for great small RPGs that just use books and paper. (TYOV can be played with dice but it also has number tables in the book to use instead, which I prefer.)

[@Parialated]

9:28 jack darkfall makes an appearance guys!! Wouldn't mind wheels as a pop up character during oxventures, not gonna lie.

[@GiwrgosT]

We had love letter, Catan, citadels and Stone age for gateway games and they are pretty amazing! Dixit for a while, but it gets boring soon enough. Codenames with dixit cards would be a good alternative!

[@kyleighmorgan7598]

Catan got me started but now I hate playing it but it opened me up to the world of board games

[@pinkcloudsnightlightbell]

Yay! It's Wheels this timeee Can't wait for this channel to grow and include more and more folks with more diverse perspectives ⚃⚄⚂⚅⚁⚀

[@MonikaLockpick]

1) „hilarious passive aggression to unleash“ 2) „serious mistrust for your opponents“ Those games (and the others of course) sound like great potential let‘s plays

[@nickjeffery536]

I played Codenames in the Board Games area of EGX last year - was partnered with the Portuguese demonstrator, and despite the fact she was working in her second language, we absolutely killed it...

[@davidpercik3956]

This is a good list. I like some of them and I'm less keen on others, but that's because the list is trying to demonstrate different types of games. I feel that they are all straightforward to learn, and engaging for new players.

[@johncollins8511]

Betrayal at the House on the Hill is by far the game I played the most with friends. Really got me into table top.

[@rangerecho]

you guys should check out Mysterium, if you don't know it yet!

[@evanwelsh7225]

Mysterium is good but something like Dixit, Detective Club, or Muse might be better for new audiences

[@dicebreaker]

We love mysterium! I'm sure it'll get mentioned eventually

[@TheNerdShelves]

These are great beginner games for sure. I'd also like to add King of Tokyo t the list; easy to learn, great theme, and accessible for all ages. Great video!

[@chaosfrogs]

I fell in love with board games playing Parcheesi as a kid. But the games I use now to get people into board games are Discworld: Ankh-Morpork, King of Tokyo, and Illimat.

[@eleanorsmith7152]

The sinking tile gameplay mechanics kinda reminds me of Escape From Atlantis, a game where you have to get as many of your people off of Atlantis as you can. It’s definitely not a cooperative game though and in my experience while you *could* just focus on loading all your little pieces into a boat and off to the safe islands on the edge of the board, you are also absolutely going to set one of the sea monsters on your friends little people as soon as you get control of it!

[@saturdaymorninggaming5628]

Dungeon is a fantastically fun and easy game and has a high replay value especially when you add some flavor with house rules.

[@HazeEmry]

I hope you guys get around to reviewing Disastles

[@zackdawson669]

This is a fantastic list - spot on guys. Some of my other favorites not appearing on this list: Smash Up, King of Tokyo, Red Dragon Inn

[@kcbarlow22]

Settlers of Catan! Good balance of strategy and tactics, easy to learn and you can get wood for sheep.

[@TheBlondDaemon]

Picked up Carcassone today when I saw it and remembered this video. Needless to say my 7 year old and I have had a blast playing this.

[@mindlasher]

Zombie Dice is a great game. It's always a hit when it gets broken out. It's fast and easy. Kids to adults can play it and have a blast.

[@chastitymarks2185]

I always loved playing "The crazy Labyrinth" with my sister also my friends and I often played the card game "Munchkin".

[@mikloslipcsey7923]

Back in my childhood, the board games we played were Totopoly, Waddington’s Formula 1, Aussie Rules Football (which was sort of a tiddily-winks game), the intro wargame Napoleon at Waterloo SPI’s Vector 3 and Westend’s Star Wars Star Warriors - all them really enjoyable. Card games, less so. Preferred the spacial adventures of board games. Also in my youth, I swam with the Trilobites in the Tethys Sea...

[@Borischka]

Introduction was Dominion, playing alongside people who play regularly. I lost by a mile but was so much fun. Another game that’s fun to start with is Betrayal at House on the Hill - house building phase is really fun, however the haunt phase can be tricky. If choosing this, try to play with someone who’s played before or watch some playthroughs.

[@robinporter8481]

Outside of Chess, The Hunt for Red October was the first one I played and enjoyed and was 8 at the time. After came Dungeons (yes the early D&D board game) and Risk.

[@HerebeeDragons]

Forbidden Island sounds fun, and I really want to see you guys play Colt Express (especially if you have special guest Andy Farrent lol). One of my favourite games is Betrayal at House on the Hill.

[@jonathanpayne858]

Dixit and Spyfall are also great little games for casual beginner groups.

[@mikecunningham4682]

Cosmic Encounter and Betrayal at House on the Hill are my two GOAT games

[@filipbojanowski1299]

For me, one of the best introductory games is Settlers of Catan, I always use it to get people into tabletop gaming.

[@rurallemas]

I would recommend settlers of catan or Scotland Yard, though I am not sure how popular Scotland Yard is

[@de9372]

I would suggest Lotus for both beginners and long term fans of the hobby. It is a fairly quick game to play but both fun and beautiful.

[@darkusshikyo5546]

It's fun to see that boardgames are getting more and more popular in other countries than here in germany and funny that they still stay mostly german, Like "SPiel des Jahres" (Game of the year) or the words in codenames. But let's get to the point. I'm playing boardgames since I could think of it. Of course it started with stuff like backgammon, monopoly, Sorry! (in german "Mensch ärgere dich nicht", something like Human don't get angry) and game of life. But the games that in the end hooked me wasn't carcassonne or any of the others, but Robo Rallye, Descent: Journey into the Dark and 7 wonders and more or less sadly Munchkin. The first of the four is a fun game in which you have to program your little robot to race through an cannery or car manufactory for the flags, faster than everyone else, the clue are the option cards, your lasers and the board elements, everything can kill you or your opponents and you or they have to start anew from the last flag they past. The second one is a tabletop roleplaying game were up to four heroic players go against the evil overlord, another player who wants to kill the heroes with his monsters and prevent them from getting his treasure. The third game is a pretty easy card game, in which you have to draft your own ancient city and get more points than everyone else in the same time, time is herby measured by the cards played, so everyone has the same amount of time. Last but not least Munchkin: a game a lot of people still love, but I have overplayed, with thousands of expansions at some time u have a gigantic deck resembling your dungeon and the loot and you are trying to win the game by being the last one alive, so you have to rob your friends, kill monsters and be a cheating little dwarf. So sorry for the long comment, but I hope some people my look into those as well, because they bring lots of fun.

[@ryanswartout7311]

We own 5 of the 7. And they are all amazing games. We are missing Coup and Colt Express. We have a few games similar to Coup, but Colt Express looks like it might be added to our collection soon. Thank you,

[@jetsetradio01]

Catan was my gateway drug. I played every day for 2 weeks 😁

[@RoboSparkle]

Munchkins was my first foray into the hobby and can't recommend it enough! It looks super intimidating but the cards are generally pretty clear with the instructions and, if they aren't clear, one of the stated rules is that "if you can convince the other players/game owner that it's cool, then it's cool" . Hanabi is one of my favourite cooperative games and so easy to play. As a team you must create the perfect fireworks display by putting your cards down in the correct order. However, you cannot see your own cards and only have a limited amount of information that you are allowed to give your teammates, so you have to decide carefully what cards to play or what info to give.

[@CottonCandySharks]

I've actually heard of most of these and played one!! I'm a super noob so this is exciting :D

[@jamesb.4760]

Well looks like I’ve got 7 games to look into. Been a passive consumer of board games with a recently growing interest.

[@SunriseAshes]

May I humbly recommend Raiders of the North Sea for an easy to understand worker placement game that has VIKINGS! I played Architects of the West Kingdom first but it takes a little longer to grasp. Also, King of Tokyo is simple, fast and oodles of fun. Smashing other monsters up with epic dice rolls would be a great introduction to board games for newbies.

[@sentientpaperclip874]

First things first stumbling into this channel so close to its birth gave me a small nerdgasm also I is my small cities table top fire starter as well so I LOVE THIS STUFF!!! Star realms even allowed me to corrupt a new circle of MTG players(along with my good standing at my Friendly neighborhood game store)

[@Breaking__Baz]

Wizard is still one of our family favourites. It's just so much fun to ruin the other player's game by announcing more or fever tricks than you're likely to get.

[@magicalfluffybunny]

We have most of those! Yeah! But my husband is obsessed with Power Grid if you like mildly confusing and German.

[@TheRobbiemunn]

It was actually D&D that got me into tabletop gaming again, and somewhat unsurprisingly my first modern board game was Castle Ravenloft, a super easy to play dungeon crawl :)

[@TheoryPop]

All the games in this video are solid suggestions. Here’s a few I like and think could be good entry games for those starting out: Machi Koro is a good, fun, colourful game that’s pretty easy to pick up for new players, but can become quite competitive. Escape the Dark Castle is great, a nice RPG/dungeon-lite kind of experience but can be pretty harsh. 5 Minute Dungeon is fast, frenetic, and easy to grasp the basics. And Dead of Winter is a great zombie-themed survival game.

[@pengyang4352]

My variety would be Catan, Dominion, Azul, Obscurio, Resistance:Avalon, Sushi Go, Villainous, Splendor and 7 Wonders, which is basically Catan and Sushi Go mixed together.

[@MathewWalls]

One thing I'd like to know about these (and all) games is, is there a significant gap between players of different skill levels? The great example of the type of thing I'm talking about is Cluedo, where if one player is using only primary evidence (cards they've seen) and another player is using secondary evidence (the guesses other players are making, etc.) then player two will win absolutely every time. The flip side of this is games where luck plays too great a role and there is no way to be better at the game. Ticket to Ride, in my experience, strikes a really good balance because being better at the game is an advantage, but not such an advantage that playing becomes pointless. How about the others?

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

In general, you should assess how many decisions there are to make with any given action and whether luck is the limiting factor for making the best possible move. Think about it. There are lots of games where it comes down to "can draw this one really good card?" -or- "come on, just roll a 6!" A lot of family friendly games are ones where the best moves are both based on luck AND they are obviously the best move. Tic tac toe is all strategy. Calling a coin flip is all chance. Most board games involve a combination of luck and strategy. Ticket to Ride is a very simple game. It has decisions to make, but think of the permutations of a single turn. There aren't many things you can actually "do" in TTR, you follow? It's a fine game, but it's one that many adults won't find themselves playing once they've gotten into board gaming as a hobby. Nothing against TTR. It's not a bad game. Now think of a turn in Carcassonne. There are a LOT of possibilities on each turn. There is luck in what tile is drawn, but skill is largely going to outweigh luck in this game. Generally the better player wins. So what makes a game like Carcassonne both family friendly AND interesting for strategy gamers? The rules are simple to learn and easy to follow, but you also have a high skill ceiling. It's chess-like in that sense.

[@mpbMKE]

King of Tokyo, definitely. Whenever we have big group game nights there's always a corner where people are cycling in and out of KoT games while everyone else is lording over Waterdeep or whatever.

[@LinaBoeckwurm]

I'm missing Dixit from this list... Dixit is such a wonderful game, where it's more about having fun, and less about actually winning. It's such a wholesome game, and I want more people to know about it!

[@hurleyboy9334]

Taxi! (Gibsons Games) is still a lot of fun for a 40 year old game!!

[@DenisRyan]

Azul, Tsuro, Seikatsu (but strictly only for three players, in spite of what the box says), Skull, Bohnanza, to name but a few.

[@SisyphusX]

Great list! My notes: If you like Carcassonne, keep an eye out for the first expansion. It adds a sixth player, but because it comes with wooden meeples, it’s rarely reprinted. I have NEVER played the Duke’s ability without saying I’m A Number One. Codenames has a very nice new neighbor called Just One. I know a lot of folks like co ops. But they just remind me of school projects when I was involuntarily named the Alpha Player because I was actually doing work. Star Realms also has a nice new neighbor called Shards of Infinity. Colt Express good. But I’m surprised this slot didn’t go to 7 Wonders. You covered TTR and didn’t mention the new micro version TTR London? Wow. Oh, and all these games have app versions or app assistants. Good choices to try first.

[@chrisgboyle]

Star realms is a perfect choice. Small and light but really has a lot to learn as you play

[@rpgenius3968]

Ultimate Werewolf: One Night is my absolute favorite/go to game for simultaneously breaking and strengthening friendships. Avalon is good too, but it takes a while to get a new role.

[@RedVioletVODs]

I do think King of Tokyo is a good one to have as well for beginner board game folks! If the friend group is the kind of people who's board game knowledge stops at Monopoly, it does get them into actually playing them, and the rules don't take that long at all to learn

[@cynforgiven1221]

Have either of you heard of/played the Zombies, Run! Board Game? It's a different game every time you play depending on the choices you make.

[@christybanta1485]

I've played it and I absolutely loved it. But could never get a big enough group for it to be really fun, 3 players just didn't seem like enough.

[@srenmogensen7965]

One of the things I like most about a game like Carcasonne, is that it is equally good with 2 players as well as 5. Two different experiences and playstyles, but both are good. Do all the games on this list have the same playability? Disregard the only 2 players game. Furthermore, for me it would be a good metric if you mention it in reviews or alternativly make a list of games that are as fun with minimum as with the maximum amount of players.

[@Mulvers]

Thanks guys, Christmas is sorted!

[@hw7522]

Tortuga and/or Deadwood by Façade games

[@DarthNVious]

Twilight Imperium is a nice small space-themed game. Rookie soldiers could also enjoy a light and short game of Advanced Squad Leader.

[@AKA_Kira]

SolarQuest 1980s edition is what started my boardgame obsession. Monopoly in space with lasers and gravity

[@Gunny-Bunny]

Red Dragon Inn is THE game that got me into the hobby. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.

[@waterinmyotter6245]

I recommend Exploding Kittens as a good game for everyone to own. It’s a great icebreaker game and it’s quick to play. You guys should play it with Ellen from Outside Xtra; I want to see if her brain can handle that much cuteness.

[@ggelftrauts]

Catan?!?! The gateway drug to hexes

[@sorrowsong08]

Hard pass for me....I played it originally in the early 2000's and didn't come back to the hobby til 2015

[@therichards2000]

I had a hard time getting into Catan as well until a friend introduced me to Star Trek Catan. The game is essentially the same (some different mechanics) but for whatever reason the change in theme worked for me.

[@sorrowsong08]

For me the reason I didn't like it and it turned me off board games for a while was the robber and that trading in general means that someone gets the worse end of the deal. I still dislike games with trading amongst players and take that elements.

[@tonbokarasu2973]

I've been teaching Kingdomino to some quite young folk, it's a good and simple intro game with surprising depth.

[@robertrichardson3888]

This is one of the better lists like this that I've seen. My 7 would be Ticket to ride, carcassonne, forbidden island, codenames, splendor, king of Tokyo, and patchwork. Maybe sushi go if there was an eighth.

[@dr3putt62]

The games that got me into gaming in since the 80s were: Acquire, Rail Baron, Mr. President, and Civil War. Then when I got back into it: Power Grid, Twilight Struggle, and 1960: The making of the President

[@TheFlatulentCow]

I would also suggest Zombie Dice, One night Werewolf (with the app), Love letter, Exploding Kittens and Flux. Although they are all fairly short games. Maybe for a separate short games video?

[@dankelly]

Nice collection. I've got all of them accept Colt Express.

[@domtheavenger93]

"The farming game" was anyways popular is my house growing up, but I did grow up on a farm. When I got older I really started enjoying "Acquire".