My cousin is adopting a child from another country. The child is a preteen. My cousin has been working on learning the child’s native language. I don’t know if the child already has any English at all. I believe it is either none or very limited.
My cousin has asked me for board game suggestions. They need to be good for a preteen, easy to explain, little to no necessary language, and probably work well with 2 players (just my cousin and the kid). Any ideas?
Might be helpful to know more about the child’s interests and cultural background… but I certainly respect the privacy of the child and you and your cousin’s family.
Recently I was marveling at the lack of in-game text in Heat: Pedal to the Metal, because I’m always on the lookout for games I can play with my 6 year old (who sometimes seems to be in a hurry to learn to read, but other times I get the impression she thinks it’ll just happen without any effort). So that’s an option; additionally, it has rulebooks available in many languages (because: Days of Wonder)
And, along the same idea… a Ticket to Ride would be a good choice for many of the same reasons.
I think Jaipur has almost- if not no- text? Also Splendor
As far as “appealing to a preteen,” well. has your cousin checked out the game “sigh loudly and roll your eyes?” I hear that’s pretty popular.
EDIT:
More thoughts:
Classic games:
These all have complete language independence, according to BGG:
| Name | Best Players | Weight | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heat: Pedal to the Metal | 5,6 | 2.19 | 50 |
| Crokinole | 2,4 | 1.23 | 51 |
| Ticket to Ride: Europe | 4 | 1.92 | 153 |
| Welcome To… | 3,4 | 1.84 | 170 |
| Jaipur | 2 | 1.47 | 173 |
| Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries | 3 | 1.97 | 197 |
| Splendor | 3 | 1.78 | 211 |
| Carcassonne | 2 | 1.9 | 214 |
| Nidavellir | 3 | 2.1 | 223 |
| Nidavellir | 3 | 2.1 | 223 |
| Hanamikoji | 2 | 1.68 | 238 |
| KLASK | 2 | 1.06 | 244 |
| Flamme Rouge | 4 | 1.68 | 249 |
| Santorini | 2 | 1.73 | 254 |
| Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King | 3,4 | 2.25 | 255 |
| Kingdomino | 2,4 | 1.22 | 278 |
| Survive: Escape from Atlantis! | 4 | 1.69 | 320 |
| Century: Spice Road | 3,4 | 1.8 | 322 |
| Lost Cities | 2 | 1.48 | 326 |
| The King Is Dead: Second Edition | 3 | 2.12 | 341 |
| Takenoko | 3 | 1.98 | 370 |
| Ticket to Ride: Märklin | 4 | 2.24 | 411 |
| Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra | 3 | 2 | 420 |
| Biblios | 3 | 1.68 | 442 |
| Hanabi | 4 | 1.69 | 512 |
| Potion Explosion | - | 1.77 | 525 |
| Railroad Ink: Deep Blue Edition | 2 | 1.47 | 533 |
| Port Royal | 3,4 | 1.62 | 543 |
| Through the Desert | 3 | 2.2 | 597 |
| Queendomino | 2 | 2.05 | 600 |
| Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers | 2,3 | 1.92 | 613 |
| Tobago | 4 | 2.13 | 619 |
| Formula D | 5,6,7,8 | 1.98 | 663 |
| Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig | 6 | 2.18 | 687 |
| Tokaido | 4 | 1.75 | 727 |
| Century: A New World | 3 | 2.12 | 738 |
| Railroad Ink Challenge: Lush Green Edition | 2 | 2.12 | 758 |
| Century: Eastern Wonders | 4 | 2.1 | 774 |
| Menara | 2,3 | 1.63 | 792 |
| Blue Moon City | 3,4 | 2.29 | 793 |
| Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition | 3 | 1.46 | 825 |
| Blue Lagoon | 4 | 2.01 | 855 |
| Morels | 2 | 1.74 | 886 |
| Rhino Hero | 3 | 1.02 | 907 |
| The Mind | 4 | 1.07 | 931 |
| Lanterns: The Harvest Festival | 4 | 1.55 | 966 |
| Snow Tails | 5 | 2.04 | 990 |
| Flick 'em Up! | 2,4 | 1.33 | 1021 |
| Ticket to Ride: London | 3 | 1.34 | 1034 |
| Ticket to Ride: New York | - | 1.25 | 1065 |
| Nations: The Dice Game | 4 | 2 | 1088 |
| Rallyman: GT | 4,5 | 2.22 | 1100 |
| Tales & Games: The Hare & the Tortoise | 4 | 1.36 | 1109 |
| Loony Quest | 4 | 1.2 | 1117 |
| Coconuts | 4 | 1.04 | 1151 |
| Mysterium Park | 4 | 1.45 | 1162 |
| La Isla | 4 | 2.25 | 1205 |
| Claim | 2 | 1.69 | 1226 |
| Fairy Tale | 4 | 1.77 | 1244 |
| New York 1901 | 4 | 2.05 | 1272 |
| Ticket to Ride: Germany | 4 | 1.7 | 1428 |
| Lost Cities: The Board Game | 3,4 | 1.72 | 1467 |
| Scotland Yard | - | 1.95 | 1519 |
| Railroad Ink Challenge: Shining Yellow Edition | 2,3,4 | 2.05 | 1553 |
| Indigo | 4 | 1.47 | 1589 |
| Indian Summer | 3 | 2.15 | 1593 |
| ICECOOL2 | 4 | 1.07 | 1744 |
| Samurai Spirit | - | 2.13 | 1771 |
| The Great Heartland Hauling Co. | 3 | 1.84 | 1814 |
| Mountain Goats | 4 | 1.07 | 1841 |
| Ticket to Ride: First Journey (U.S.) | 3,4 | 1.42 | 1972 |
| Spring Meadow | 2,4 | 1.78 | 1995 |
| Cthulhu Realms | 2 | 2.09 | 1999 |
| Claim 2 | 2 | 1.57 | 2108 |
| Ticket to Ride: First Journey (Europe) | 4 | 1.57 | 2138 |
| Gods Love Dinosaurs | 3 | 2.21 | 2307 |
| Mercado de Lisboa | 3 | 2.06 | 2442 |
| Harvest Dice | - | 1.33 | 2476 |
| Coldwater Crown | 2,3 | 2.23 | 2514 |
| Tac Tac Jack | 4 | 1.04 | 2546 |
| Ticket to Ride: Amsterdam | 4 | 1.58 | 2572 |
| Whale Riders | 4 | 1.83 | 2575 |
| Mundus Novus | 4 | 2.18 | 2612 |
| Sonar | 4 | 1.86 | 2640 |
| Rook | 4 | 1.86 | 2796 |
| First Orchard | 3 | 1 | 2798 |
| Slide Quest | 4 | 1.19 | 2863 |
| Carcassonne: Over Hill and Dale | 2 | 1.93 | 2881 |
| Ticket to Ride: San Francisco | 3 | 1.71 | 3049 |
| Rory’s Story Cubes | 2,3,4 | 1.11 | 3093 |
| En Garde | 2 | 1.39 | 3142 |
| Parfum | - | 2.08 | 3268 |
| Piñata | 2 | 1.5 | 3306 |
| Sequence | 3,4 | 1.32 | 3308 |
| Loopin’ Chewie | 3 | 1 | 3452 |
| Loopin’ Chewie | 3 | 1 | 3452 |
| Honga | 4 | 1.92 | 3513 |
| Guildhall Fantasy: Fellowship | 2 | 2 | 3578 |
| Counterfeiters | 4 | 2.06 | 3784 |
| Rory’s Story Cubes: Voyages | 3,4 | 1.03 | 3981 |
| Sheep & Thief | 3,4 | 1.66 | 4044 |
| Rory’s Story Cubes: Actions | 3,4 | 1.19 | 4261 |
| Guildhall Fantasy: Alliance | 2 | 2.13 | 4407 |
| Grog Island | 4 | 2.19 | 4461 |
| IOTA | 3 | 1.91 | 4485 |
| Guildhall Fantasy: Coalition | 2 | 2.11 | 4608 |
| U.S. Telegraph | 2 | 1.71 | 4706 |
| Costa Rica | 4 | 1.33 | 4861 |
| Mercado | 4 | 1.88 | 5074 |
| Fzzzt! | 4 | 1.68 | 5353 |
| The Lady and the Tiger | 2 | 1.67 | 5419 |
| Bohemian Villages | - | 1.91 | 5516 |
| Purrrlock Holmes: Furriarty’s Trail | 4 | 1.58 | 5605 |
| BUS | 3 | 1.31 | 5911 |
| Robot Turtles | 4 | 1.33 | 6220 |
| Rory’s Story Cubes: Enchanted | 3,4 | 1.09 | 6538 |
| Scrutineyes | 4 | 1.89 | 6806 |
| Scrutineyes | 4 | 1.89 | 6806 |
| FlowerFall | 4 | 1.04 | 6855 |
| RUM | 3 | 1.44 | 6935 |
| Eriantys | 3 | 2.27 | 7287 |
| Rory’s Story Cubes: Fantasia | 3,4 | 1 | 7809 |
| Yura Yura Penguin | 3 | 1 | 8015 |
| Unicorn Glitterluck: Cloud Crystals | 3,4 | 1.36 | 8957 |
| Mastermind | 2 | 1.79 | 10171 |
| SOW | - | 1.89 | 10475 |
| SPY | - | 1.71 | 12910 |
| Castle Keep | 3,4 | 1.21 | 15578 |
| Enchanted Cupcake Party Game | - | 1 | 21435 |
| Skip-Bo | 4 | 1.21 | 23838 |
| Friends Trivia Game | 4,5,6 | 1.55 | 25270 |
| Guess Who? | 2 | 1.1 | 25621 |
| Battleship | 2 | 1.21 | 25631 |
| Hungry Hungry Hippos | 4 | 1.07 | 25634 |
| Candy Land | 4 | 1.1 | 25646 |
How is Patchwork not on this list!? Just need to be able to read numbers.
Because I don’t own it! 
Sorry, the list was so long I thought it was comprehensive. I should have realized it was just your collection. 
I know nothing about interests. Cultural background, best I can do is Eastern Europe. My cousin, like me, is USA.
I was wondering about Dixit for beginning working with a new language. Cards can be described with pretty basic vocabulary like colors or shapes. Doesn’t work with only 2 players so maybe a suggestion for a little down the line when more people could be around.
Chapeau to your cousin.
Blaze is a reworking of Durak, which is an Eastern European card game.
The potential issue with any new game is that either your cousin or their kid is going to have to teach it to the other one, which is going to be a bigger language barrier than actually playing the game.
Chess is probably the only game where you can guarantee finding the rules in any language.
I’d buy an old Xbox and a copy of FIFA tbh
We just got Dixit for my daughter at Christmas that was well received and may work although not great at 2. Also dexterity games could be fun. Hamsterolle and cat and mouth is popular with the kids, the latter is 2 player only.
Uno extreme although not a board game is again a fun language independent game for kids and the extreme mechanic of the card shuffler spitting out cards at you can be fun although again could be limiting for 2 players.
I think these are all games that my nieces and nephews have enjoyed that are fairly simple and don’t have much reliance on language:
They are all playable with 2 players, although I don’t necessarily know how good they are at that player count.
Perhaps one of the simpler roll and writes might work too? My wife and I have played a lot of Railroad Ink, I’m not sure if that would be too difficult to explain.
Patchwork and Ticket to Ride mentioned by others also sound like they could be good ideas to me.
A reminder since it hasn’t been mentioned: BGG’s “language dependence” field is quite handy.
I have no idea about suitable ages for games but Tsuro and Onitama are both fairly straightforward in rules and need no in-game text.
Patchwork and Carcassonne would be my first thoughts. Maybe The Game?
Lots of 2-player game suggestions in Good two-player games (some of which are language-independent).
Hive, Jaipur, and Patchwork are go-tos for me at 2p, language-independent, and easy to learn and play.
Caesar! Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! could work if the theme is ok, although might be complicated depending on the kid’s actual age (“less than 13” covers a pretty enormous range of cognitive capabilities).
Sleeping Queens was designed by a pre-teen child, and my niece used to enjoy it…