It can happen to anyone: a friend of a friend joins for the evening and suddenly Catan is not an option.

What are your goto games in those situations?

  • Zipheir
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    1 year ago

    A good question and an interesting thread. At five, our group sometimes tries a substantial game like Viticulture or Power Grid. Knowing the game is critical, however, since many complex games are not at their best with five players. When our group hits six, we’ve recently been playing Mysterium, which is an excellent, simple investigation game with evocative art and a great deal of replay value. It’s surprisingly accessible for new players.

    With even larger groups, we sometimes play Mascarade. This Bruno Faidutti social deduction game is similar to his later Citadels, but easier to get started with. Another hit has been Bohnanza, although its wheeling-and-dealing style may not appeal to quieter folks.

    When we have players who are easily overwhelmed by lots of rules, we tend to fall back to Sushi Go. This is entertaining enough–though beware of playing it with hate-drafting Magic players.

    EDIT: It’s “Mascarade”, not “Masquerade”.

    • JakeBacon@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I love draft games (Magic player here, but I don’t hate draft a ton). Been thinking about picking up Sushi Go but my current living situation severely limits my ability to play board games.

    • shmanio@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      I’ve just read the rules of Masquerade, it seems really good. Also, being able to play with up to 13 players makes it really flexible.

      EDIT: Have you played the expansion as well?

      • Zipheir
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        1 year ago

        No, but I would like to. I have not seen either game at our local stores, sadly.

        • shmanio@lemmy.worldOP
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          1 year ago

          Hi, just wanted to say that we tried it yesterday, and we loved it! Great game, great mechanics and even if it was our first there have been some great deceptions. Thank you for the suggestion!

          • Zipheir
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            1 year ago

            You’re very welcome. I’m glad to hear it was a success.