I think this is a good example of knowing your audience. Some newbies simply would not be interested in this kind of game but would jump all over something else, say a co-op or a trick-taking game.
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Very true, no argument from me.
I can think of the aforementioned Ticket to Ride and Splendor, and I would add Spice Road, and party games like Just One or Codenames for groups. Werewords has worked really well on different groups due to its simplicity and some social deduction.
Rather than Dixit, I would go for Detective Club, again, for that social deduction factor, and to see people winging it when they don’t have the clue getting away with it when somebody else has really bad cards. That can really spice up the night, plus the fact that it is not really that important who wins, but the shared experience.
Pandemic would have been my go to for coop, but these days, with a real pandemic going on, some people are really put off by the theme. So Forbidden Island can be a decent replacement.
Space Base or Machi Koro can give newbies a good feel as entry games, and something like Betrayal at House on the Hill can be fun, although if the traitor happens to be the newbie you could have a problem, depending on the monster.
And a simple worker placement with good production, like Architects of the West Kingdom or Raiders of the North Sea (or even worse art like Lords of Waterdeep) could be an interesting second step (perhaps like Betrayal on a different genre)
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Nobody’s mentioned Flash Point Fire Rescue, which is the game that displaced Pandemic for me. More easily relatable theme, and a “family game” introductory mode with just the basic rules.
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I’ve just played it on the app, but I definitely have to play it on the tabletop version, I bet it is a lot of fun/stress
Based on teaching games to my colleagues: Codenames, Skull, No Thanks!, and Railroad Ink.
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It’s still Ticket to Ride for me. Good length, easy to teach, fast turns and trains are always appealing.
My parents kind of managed The Crew. I played a lot of trick taking as a kid; I think you’d need some experience of trick takers for it to be an easy teach.
Strangely my parents (especially my Dad) struggled with Codenames but found Decrypto manageable.
The other game they’ve coped with is Quest for El Dorado. Lovely table presence, easy to grasp theme wise and a quick game to play.
Carcassonne is a classic for a reason.
(Sorry, bold text isn’t working on my phone)
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My first modern board game was Betrayal. I wouldn’t want to teach it to my parents though!
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This KEEPS coming up in lists as both a good beginners game and a generally fun time.
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I love azul but I think the score is maybe a little fiddly for a true first timer.
I think I’d go ticket to ride. That game feels like it has things which anyone can achieve in their first game that feel good.
I think as a true head spinner I’d go for the Mind as well.
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I haven’t played original Azul but I bought Azul Summer Pavilion and the scoring (and therefore your tactics for the entire game) of that one is WAY too complicated for a first-timer.
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Summer pavilion is a whole level above! I’m probably overstating the fiddliness. It definitely is a game which needs people to start on the same level I think.
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One that I tried on someone (not a first-time gamer but early, I hope, in their gaming life) because it seemed easily learnable and I love it: Lemminge. Great success!
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Underrated quality for a beginner game. Loving it yourself.
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I am still to play Quest for el Dorado. I think in the game group it suffers too much from “it’s been around for ages” and “it is an entry game” but I am always intrigued about it, if it is a good entry game I wouldn’t mind getting to play with friends that aren’t gamers.
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