If you’re a fan of board games, you know how hard it can be to get others to play games with you if they don’t also enjoy board games or their extent of games is Cards Against Humanity and Monopoly. However, there are some great games to help you on your quest to play games with your non-gaming friends.
Ticket to Ride
Ticket to Ride is a go-to Christmas game now for my family, as I introduced it to them a couple years ago. My family enjoys games like Clue, The Game of Life, and various Domino games, so Ticket to Ride fit in well. It worked especially well for my parents, as the theme was enjoyable for them. My mom even bought Ticket to Ride: Europe for us to all play together.
Ticket to Ride is elegantly simple with its gameplay, where the rules are easy to learn but there are many strategic options to choose from. It can satisfy the newest of gamers as well as the most die-hard, which is why it is on this list.
Unstable Unicorns
I put Unstable Unicorns on this list because it is a great transition for those friends who think Cards Against Humanity is a great game. I bring it to game nights with these friends, and it always gets played and spares me hours and hours of exhausting CAH games. It satisfies the need for humor and ridiculousness that CAH provides while staying fresh and having strategy to make it more interesting.
Sushi Go
Sushi Go is another game my family now plays on holidays. It’s also easy to learn and quick to play, but still has strategy to make it more worthwhile for you and introducing strategy games to your friends/family. The theme is also adorable, which helps make it a winner amongst the non-gamers.
Takenoko
Takenoko is a great gateway game because of its theme and using that theme to introduce different game mechanics. I think it’s a good game to adjust the mindset of people who associate Monopoly as the peak board game because it incorporates some of the mechanics from Monopoly in a much more enjoyable way. Also, you have an adorable panda to feed, which is much better than the Monopoly man.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
If your friends are not into the cutesy game themes, Betrayal at House on the Hill is a great option. It’s a horror game, where you begin by playing cooperatively while exploring a haunted house. But eventually, you’ll lose one of your compatriots as an event starts and things get even scarier. This game is great for your friends that enjoy horror and darker stuff, and stories in general. This game also introduces co-op and hidden traitor mechanics that you can find in other games. And there is a tone of replay value with the many events that can be triggered.
What board games do you use as gateway games for non-gamers? Share them in the comments below.
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The last one sounds awesome! Thanks for always sharing the best games! ♡
I’ve been having lots of success with my family introducing them to social deduction games and word games, as well as dexterity games. Some particular favorites have been Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Ice Cool and Codenames. After a few years of lighter games I’ve been sneaking in more weighty stuff with success – Quacks of Quedlinberg went down very well, even got a recent game of Agricola to happen with the family.
But certainly dexterity based games are always very well received, they are often quick to teach, easy to understand, and ‘luck’ based enough that everyone can have a fair go at winning and have fun as well.