So, full disclosure: I work at a game store (to pay for editing costs for the novels I write), so I get asked this kind of question a lot. I have good bosses that don’t pay me enough to lie to customers and specifically have told me that I don’t have to sell stuff, I have to advise people.
Cool. There’s no such thing as a perfect game. But, if I were going to “build” a 5 game collection, the core of that is getting 5 relatively inexpensive games that are radically different. I can’t say about the pricing globally, but my recommendations are going to be based on Canadian pricing. I would usually recommend reading about the recommendations, but at the end of the day a lot of good gaming is based on Rule of Cool: If it sounds cool to you, that’s probably the one to go with, because a “perfect” game that you never play isn’t anywhere near as good as a flawed game you play a lot.
With all that in mind:
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A solid, well balanced Euro designed to test skill. Puerto Rico is the classic recommendation here, although it is (very) racist, it was a great skill-testing kind of game. Problem here is that traditionally the player who sits to the left of the newest player tends to win (the new player will make a mistake, the more experienced player will capitalize on that mistake), so newer designs tend to incorporate more flexibility and opportunity to “catch up” than Puerto Rico, and therefore I recommend newer options.
Recommendations: Nusfjord, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Suburbia, Great Western Trail, Terra Mystica, Pipeline, Brass Birmingham, Caverna/Feast for Odin.
Downside: Almost all these games are 2-3 hours long, and $60-70 dollars (Caverna and Feast for Odin are much more, and harder recommendations, but if you like Uwe’s games, they are really solid). This category is the one that, if you’re going to skip one, skip it and come back when you’re ready for some heavier, brainier games. -
A light, more random, faster play Euro that you can pull out after dinner or to introduce new players to the hobby. Tonnes of options here, but usually the big hurdle is that you want a game that doesn’t look complicated. Quacks of Quedlingburg is a fantastic, lighter game, but the sheer number of bits and pieces can be overwhelming for people to look at. You want something bright, colourful, simple, but still strategic with a healthy dose of luck… something that when you lose you can chalk up to bad luck rather than bad play. Traditionally, of course, this was the spot for Catan, but that’s a 25-year-old game (older, I think?), and we can do better than that.
Recommendations: Splendor, Sagrada, Kingdomino, Machi Koro, Sushi Go, Unearthed, NMBR 9, Carcassonne, Wingspan
Downsides: There is always the concern that these games have “too much” luck, and you will sometimes lose by no fault of your own. Some people hate that. -
A quick co-operative game. Co-op games are among the hardest to recommend because they fall broadly into two camps: Traditional, turn-based co-op games that are simple and methodical, and non-traditional co-ops. The issue with Traditional turn-based co-op games (think Pandemic) is they are very prone to “The Quarterbacking Problem” (You know what you should do on your turn? This. If you don’t do this we’re all going to lose, it will 100% be your fault… I mean, do whatever you want, man, but if you don’t do this we’re going to lose because of you). If you don’t have a member of your group that is a quarterbacking jerk, then you have a broader pool to draw from. If you do have a jerk like me… I mean, a “quarterbacking jerk”… then there are options, but they tend to be more complicated.
Recommendations, Turn-based: Forbidden Island, Pandemic, Burgle Bros, Spirit Island, Flashpoint, The Captain is Dead
Recommendations, Not turn-based: Magic Maze, 5-Minute Dungeon, Escape the Curse of the Temple, A Tale of Pirates, The Mind
Downsides: Co-op games just aren’t for everyone, regardless of whether they’re turn-based or not. Forbidden Island is inexpensive ($24 at my store), and a great way to test the waters to see if they’re for your group or not. -
A great party game you can pull out for families or large gatherings. Codenames, one of the greatest games ever made by man, is the gold standard here and is one of the very few games I think everyone should own. Also, it’s cheap. But, there are plenty of good options, and if you’re the kind of group that likes to drink a lot or “chemically enhance” your evenings there are lighter, sillier games that aren’t brain burners.
Recommendations: Codenames, Wavelength, Anomia, Jungle Speed, Pictomania, Funemployed, Monikers, Decrypto
Downsides: Usually require a larger group to play with, and sometimes people don’t really want to play a game in a group. Also, these can be dead-on-takeoff if you have 1 player that refuses to learn or play, so be careful about your group when you pull 'em out. -
Traitor and bluffing style games. These are often “the” game that people gravitate towards or away from… one of those “if you like it you LOVE it, but not everyone likes it” kind of things. I still think that due to their general inexpensiveness you should have 1, maybe even 2, of them on hand… at the very least you should look up the rules for Skull and make your own copy (although for $14 you get some beautiful artwork and support the game designers, but nothing wrong with trying it out for free first).
Recommendations: Skull, Coup, One Night Werewolf/Vampire, Saboteur, Cockroach Poker Royal, Sheriff of Nottingham, Spyfall, Mafia de Cuba, A Fake Artist Goes to New York
Downsides: Some people can’t lie. Some people don’t like lying. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes those people are also the ones who like these games the most. Almost always worth a shot.
This list doesn’t include Roll and Writes, although they are a growing and strong category of games (Railroad Ink, Welcome To…, Cartographers, Ganz Schon Clever, Encore), and definitely worth a look if you want a good, quick game you can play with large groups with a heavier luck element… or Fighting-style Games (Small World, El Grande, Cosmic Encounter, King of Tokyo, Tsuro) but those tend to be more polarizing. Oh, or dungeon-delvers (Gloomhaven, Journeys in Middle-Earth, Imperial Assault, Blackstone Fortress, Descent Journeys in the Dark, Mansions of Madness), but those are almost always very complicated for a starting player, plus often staggeringly expensive (Imperial Assault, one of my personal favourites, I can’t recommend in good conscience to anyone who doesn’t have buckets of disposable income).
Anyway! I hope that helps, and if you have any questions, I’m happy to try and answer.
Edit: Corrected the name of a game (“Pirate Tale” is actually “A Tale of Pirates”)
