How to start a game collection!

Today I'd like to share some of the tips I offered during a panel I led entitled Introducing Board Games to Your Friends and Family. These tips are both for people who have never owned a board game before, and those looking for the next game to add to their collection. I hope my suggestions assist you in picking easy-to-learn, yet challenging and exciting games that nearly anyone can enjoy. If you've ever found yourself bored during a rainy day with your family or friends, you NEED to read this list. Enjoy!

TIPS FOR STARTING A GAME COLLECTION  

1)      Pick games that are fun for you! Sometimes you might buy a game because your friends like it and request it, but the most important thing is that you pick games that you personally enjoy!  

2)      Pick a variety of games that play well for different groups of people. Ideally, you should pick games that can work well with variable numbers of people, and also appeal to the tastes of your friends and family!   

3)      Pick games with a variety of average  game lengths so you’re ready for any occasion. A two-hour game might be fun, but if you've only got 30 minutes, it's rather useless no?  

4)      When you’re first starting, pick games that are easy to carry around.  

5)      Use boardgamegeek.com for reviews and forum discussions on nearly any board game!

LIGHT CARD GAMES  

Ideal for: airport, car rides, picnics, when everyone’s tired and doesn’t feel like playing (this happens all the time to me!!!) Avg. length: 15-30 minutes

Note: There are WAY too many good examples!

1. Coloretto, No Thanks!, Slide 5, Archaeology The Card Game (pick these if they like Uno!) - Read my post on Archaeology here!
2. Saboteur, The Resistance  (pick these if you’ve got a large group and want to play a Mafia-style game!) - Check out my post on The Resistance here!
3. Blokus (pick this if they like Tetris!)
4. Bananagrams, Boggle  (pick this if they like word games/Scrabble) 
5. Can’t Stop, Incan Gold (pick these if they like pressing their luck, big bucks no whammies!!)
6. Lost Cities, Hive, Jambo (pick these if you’ve got a date and want to keep him/her happy!) 

 Take a look at this video overview of Blokus.
 

GATEWAY GAMES

If you want to entice your non-gaming buddies into boardgaming, these games are a great start. They're easy to learn, but require multiple playthroughs and clever strategy to win!

Avg Length: 45-90 minutes

1. Settlers of Catan (pick this if they like Monopoly!)
2. Carcassonne (pick this if they like puzzles!) - Check out my post on Carcassonne here.
3. Ticket to Ride (pick this if they like colorful trains – and who doesn’t like colorful trains?)
4. 7 Wonders (pick this if they like building civilizations!)
5. Citadels (pick this if they like bluffing games!)
6. Bohnanza (pick this if they like trading and interacting with each other!)
7. Vegas Showdown (pick this if they auction games, or if they like building their own house in The Sims!)

A television ad for Ticket To Ride is catching the eyes of families and gamers alike!

CARD DRAFTING GAMES

These games will be very familiar to gamers with experience with collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering or Yu-Gi-Oh. They're also generally easy to learn and incorporate a lot of different themes!

Avg Length: 30-60 minutes

1. Dominion (pick this if you like LOTS of expansions and want a simple and elegant game)
2. Thunderstone (pick this if you want to dungeon delve while building your deck!)
3. Nightfall (pick this if you can’t get enough vampires and werewolves!)
4. Ascension (pick this if you want a game made by Magic champions!)
5. Eminent Domain (pick this if you want to explore space and build a civilization, all while drafting!!)

Check out this explanation of Ascension to get an idea of what you'll be getting into!

NEXT STEP GAMES

If your non-gaming buddies are getting too good at the gateway games, challenge them with these next steps!

Avg Length: 1-2 hours

1. Stone Age (pick this if you want a beautiful-looking game and your group likes cavemen!) Read my post about Stone Age here.
2. Cities and Knights (an expansion for Settlers of Catan which adds some interesting new strategies to the game)
3. El Grande (pick this if they like RISK!)
4. Cosmic Encounter (pick this if you like a game similar to poker, with a heavy sci-fi theme!)
5. Alhambra (pick this if they liked Carcassonne and want something different) - Read my post about Alhambra here.
6. Puerto Rico (pick this if your group wants a strategy game that will challenge their minds)

 

LONGER GAMES

These games take up most of game night, but they’re surprisingly accessible and offer a lot of interesting challenges.

Avg Length: 2-4 hours

1. Battlestar Galactica: Stab your buddies in the back as evil Cylons, who want to see humanity suffer! You don’t need to see the TV show to like this game, but it definitely helps!
2. Railways of the World: Building rails all over the U.S. as a rich, snooty railroad baron!
3. Arkham Horror: Kill Cthulhu and try not to go insane. Great cooperative game against the board.
4. A Game of Thrones: Isn’t it amazing when a great book series gets turned into a great board game?

Fantasy Flight Games has a great explanation of Battlestar Galactica here.

These are just some ideas of games you might be interested in adding to the collection, but there's thousands of games out there that I haven't explored. Don't be afraid to try something new, that's part of the fun. I'll leave you with my recommended starting game collection.

MY RECOMMENDED STARTING GAME COLLECTION

1. Light: Archaeology, Blokus, Bananagrams
2. Gateway: Ticket to Ride, Vegas Showdown, Citadels
3. Next Steps: El Grande, Alhambra
4. Drafting: Thunderstone Advance
5. Longer Games: Railways of the World