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Board game sales are booming as people seek off-screen connections
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this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2026
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Board Games
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Anyone have a recommendation for something new that's fun for both beginners and experienced boardgamers? I think I picked up Escape from the Dark Castle most recently, which got a little stale after just a couple runs. Open to all genres, thanks!
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Wingspan - resource manipulation
Ascension -deck builder
DOMINION - deck building
King Of Tokyo - a little bit resource management, little bit battle simulation.
Incan Gold. It's a press-your-luck style of game. It's one of go-to gateway games for new players. Explanation takes about 15 mins, easy to understand, and has always been a hit at parties.
Castles of Burgundy
Patchwork
Galaxy Truckers
Spirit Island
Arkham Horror
Blood on the Clocktower
Once Upon A Time
Afternova is a good one. Light trading/bartering, fun theme, hidden objectives so it's hard to see a clear winner. Small box and easy to set up!
If you haven't played it, Carcassonne is the GOAT here. Hard to beat. Lots of planning, indirect conflict and vying for points, expansions later if you want. Very very good game you will not regret.
For something more serious, but still not too complex, you could try one of the "span" games - Wingspan is my pick. It does seem complex to set up and there are a lot of bits. It's not a very social game, though. Kind of like playing solitaire and then comparing afterwards.
Honorary mention to Inis which is my favourite game. Also reasonably easy to play but some of the rules can be hard to wrap your head around (the rulebook isn't super well written).
In another thread I recommended Quacks. It's a push your luck game where you play as a quack doctor. It's a good game for all levels of experience, at least imo. It's not complicated to explain to new players, yet with all the permutations of rulesets there's a lot of emergent complexity for more experienced players. I think the push your luck aspect also adds to this, as I've had first timers beat me just cause I drew poorly. Some people may really hate that though, but I think it's more fun for newer players to have a chance even at my expense. It's also really fun to peer pressure your friends into drawing too much.
Abstract strategy games like Pente, Go, and Pai Sho tend to be pretty easy to learn and have high skill ceilings. That's most of what i play so i don't have other recommendations.