board game suggestions?

[freyar]

A friend of mine (ok, one of my players) asked for my advice on what board game might be good as a Christmas gift for her husband (another player). Thing is, I don't know a lot about board games, and I certainly don't know as much as he does. What suggestions can all of you give? It's best to keep suggestions to relatively common games, I guess, since I'm not sure how many places can ship to Canada quickly enough.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

How many players will be playing normally? A lot of games are really best played with 3-4 players but there are a number of 2 player games available. And how complex do you want to get?

Olaf the Stout

 

[Teflon Billy]

Robo Rally and Talisman are our favorites.

 

[sir_ollibolli]

Robo Rally and Talisman are our favorites.

Those two are great, but take a long time to play, if you want games that do not take 3+ hours...

2 player games: Lost Cities, Carcassone
4 player games: Tichu (card game), Mah Johngg
6-7 player game: Citadels
10+ player game: Werewolves of Miller's Hollow

 

[freyar]

She says that 2 player games are preferred, time is not a limit, and even that more complicated rules are better. Thanks for the help!

 

[xrpsuzi]

I've been hunting down 2 player games for Joe and I the past year or two as well.

I second Lost Expedition, but if she is looking for more strategy-oriented games, I would suggest Medici (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/146929), Puerto Rico (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/3076) or San Juan (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/8217)

For inductive reasoning games, I liked Tyrus (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/10520) and Pecking Order (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/22347)

For spacial skills, I like Ingenious! (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/9674) which played up to 4 players, but still holds up well with 2 players.

I also enjoyed Portobello Market(http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/27356), which again is designed for 4 players, but has solid 2 player rules.

I haven't played it yet, but one of the game designers from Hasbro suggested Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper as a good 2 player game (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/106)

I just picked up Carcassone b/c I found out that it holds up pretty well to 2 players (for some reason, I thought I had to have more players...), but we haven't played it yet.

 

[MerricB]

2-player: Battlelore, Memoir '44, San Juan, Lost Cities.

The king of 2-player games, however, is Twilight Struggle. Highly recommended!

Cheers!

 

[Jesus_marley]

two really good games that are suitable for 2 players would be Carcassonne, which is a tile based game with simple rules and no dice...

and Ticket to Ride. Another game without dice where you attempt to build railroads across North America.

Both games are easily scaleable to 4 or more players. They both have expansions available for more advanced gameplay and they are both easy to learn with a game usually lasting 30 minutes to an hour.

Both games should also be available at your FLGS both in and out of Canada.