Your gateway game of choice

[WillOH]

Ticket to Ride is now our standard game for newbies, but Alhambra and Ivanhoe are also great titles. We used to use Settlers and Carcassonne as well.

 

[arscott]

Fluxx and TransAmerica are both simple games with good crossover appeal. Settlers of Catan is easy enough to learn and Iconic of it's genre (plus, I kinda suck at it, so the new players aren't at a huge disadvantage when they play against me).

 

[Cadfan]

Ticket to Ride
Carcassonne: Hunter's and Gatherers
Lascaux
Zooloretto
Cash & Guns

Depends a lot on the person. I've started some people right away on Agricola and had success. I knew they were geeks, so they wouldn't be turned off by a long game, and its so thematic that its easy on new players. And it really creates that "Oh, I REALLY should have done THAT!" feeling that makes people want to play again.

 

[billd91]

Besides some of the games already mentioned, we've had luck teaching newbies:

Shadows Over Camelot
Ricochet Robot
Zombies
EuroRails (though I would probably say Ticket to Ride is even easier)

And back when I was in high school, Axis and Allies was a pretty good gateway game. It had a broad appeal.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

For board game newbies we rely on very short duration games:

- Transamerica
- Viva il Ré
- Piranha Pedro

Metro, Ticket to Ride, and Alhambra, perhaps Settlers are good follow-ups. If they 'survive' their first contact, we treat them to other games compatible with their thematic interests.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

All the above suggestions are good (at least those I have heard of) and I will add my favorite non-gamer-game....

Family Business

Usually when playing with new players I will make an effort to not win. I don't necessarily throw the game, but I will sometimes do things that are stupid (like building a city on the border between a 12 and the desert in Catan) to give myself a handicap so I can see how I can dig myself out of it while the other players do their best.

DS

 

[MerricB]

Ticket To Ride (Europe or original+1910)
Carcassonne
Settlers of Catan

Cheers!

 

[Flatus Maximus]

Ticket to Ride Europe -- I even got my wife to play, and she hates to play games.

 

[Dayspire]

I recently introduced my 10 year old daughter to board gaming with Arkham Horror. She did surprisingly well, I didn't have to hold her hand very much after the first few attempts, and to hear her tell her uncle that she, "killed a Gug, and killed Ithaqua with two swords!" was quite cute.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I recently introduced my 10 year old daughter to board gaming with Arkham Horror. She did surprisingly well, I didn't have to hold her hand very much after the first few attempts, and to hear her tell her uncle that she, "killed a Gug, and killed Ithaqua with two swords!" was quite cute.

Good crikey! That's like a pusher introducing some kids to drugs by getting them to mainline some black-tar heroin!

It took all my willpower just to shepard my wife through a game of Arkham Horror.

DS