Summary
Let’s face it, we’ve all been in that situation where we’re trying to teach a newboard gameto more casual gamers, and the rules just get way too complicated for them. It can be frustrating when you feel like a fun game night is being ruined by way-too-complicated rules. But what are you supposed to do? Just never play board games with casuals again?
While we can debate the merits of that all day, we have another solution. These board games are relatively complex, but surprisingly easy to teach to more casual players, meaning your game nights are safe once more.
45 mins
Number of Players
2-7
Mysterium isn’t necessarily all that complex, but it has enough ways to tweak and adjust difficulty to make it enticing to more expert players, while still being accessible to beginners. Plus, if you’re the only expert gamer in your group, there’s a really easy way to verify you get to engage with the game’s more difficult systems, while your friends can take it easy.
That’s becausethis game is cooperative, with one player taking on the role of a ghost, and the others taking on the roles of psychic detectives. This means that, as the ghost, you can understand the rules better than anyone else, and let the other players help one another, which makes for a much easier rules-explanation phase.
1-2 hours
2-5
This game is definitely a little bit longer, but it’s not all that hard to teach to beginners. In this game, players take on the roles of Roman dynasties, trying to shore up their economies. The strategy of this game is more complex to understand and requires a lot of playthroughs to perfect, but the overall rules aren’t that difficult to grasp for newbies.
The turn of play is incredibly simple. From round to round, you’re simply playing cards with different abilities, too, to earn victory points from Roman gods who reward certain achievements. This concept is simple enough to understand, meaning there won’t be a lengthy period where you’ll have to explain rules over and over again.
30-60 mins
This is my go-to complicated board game that I use when I’m dealing with extended family. For the most part, even younger cousins who are siblings can very easily grasp this game, but there’s enough strategy going on that it doesn’t feel too unrewarding.
In this game, players take on the roles of railroad tycoons who can collect different types of railway cars and use them to claim tracks all over North America. Your ultimate goal is to create long routes and earn points in a variety of different ways. Ultimately, this game iseasy to explain, and the goal is clear: make long train routes.
30-45 mins
If you have a game group that’s semi-familiar with games like Settlers of Catan, then Carcassonne is a good game to add to your mix. The turn of play is somewhat dissimilar, but the idea of tile placement and resource gathering will be relatively familiar. Ultimately, this game is similar to Catan, except instead of gathering resources, you’re gathering cities, roads, and monasteries.
I’ve found that this game is relatively easy to explain to newcomers, as it’s highly visual. Plus, the turn of play is also relatively simple. Each turn consists of a relatively simple set of phases from drawing and placing land tiles, placing followers, and scoring.
30 mins
2-4
Cooperative games are always great to teach to newer players, as you can always answer questions as you play without putting the integrity of the game at risk. Forbidden Island is a great game that has just enough complexity to be dangerous, but is relatively accessible. Plus, if you really want to up the stakes, you can later teach your friends Forbidden Desert or Sky, which are even more complex.
In this game, players work together to gather treasures from sinking portions of an island. You’ll have to play collaboratively, meaning that nobody can really lean back in their seat. But you can also help your fellow players make strategic moves to succeed. Plus, again, the turn of play is simple.
15-25 mins
The best part about this game for casuals is how quick it is. While some of the other games on this list are also easy to teach, some of them can run upwards of an hour. But, King Domino is pretty much less than a half hour each time, which is great for more casual players.
In this game, you’ll build a grid of tiles using 2x1 domino-like tiles. This game is sort of like a hybrid of Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan, with an emphasis on tile placement and resource matching. Turn of play is easy, but there’s plenty of strategy and metagoals for you to chase as a more advanced player.
20-40 mins
4-7
This is a great complex game for casual players who might be familiar with slightly easier games like One Night: Ultimate Werewolf or even the party game Mafia. You do need a slightly larger group to play it, which makes it ideal for parties. But you won’t have to sacrifice strategy when you reach for this game.
In this game, players take on four potential different roles: the sheriff, the deputy, the outlaw, and the renegade. Each one of these roles has its own unique victory condition. Some are definitely harder than others to achieve. But it’s easy enough to explain to newcomers what their goal is, as they’re all relatively intuitive. Plus, ultimately, this game is just a card game, so most casuals will be able to pick up how the game is played quickly.
Splendor is a fantastic collection and development game in which players act as Renaissance merchants trying to harvest as many gems as they possibly can. The game looks far more complicated than it is, thanks to its abundance of cards and tokens.
But, ultimately, again, the turn of play is relatively simple. From moment to moment, you’ll either collect gems, buy or build cards, or reserve cards for yourself, keeping them from other players. Because of the sabotage element in this game, there’s definitely a layer of strategic competitiveness that’s more fun for advanced players. But the goals are straightforward, making it easy to teach.
45-60 mins
1-5
Wingspan is really one of my personal all-time favorite games. The strategy is engaging, the artwork is beautiful, and surprisingly, I think it’s easy to teach to newcomers. The strategy is definitely something that takes a while to perfect, but I find that newer players engage with the great art style and the intuitive points system.
When playing this game, players will take turns moving birds into their aviary, hatching eggs, drawing new cards, and rolling bird dice. You can earn points in dozens of different ways in this game, which makes it easy for newcomers to figure out what strategies work best for them.
1-4
Hear me out. There’s a very specific set of circumstances in which you may teach this game to casuals, and that’s if they love Dune as a piece of IP. If they like Dune, they’re more likely to engage with this game.
Yes, the game is complex. But if you have players who are somewhat familiar with deck builders, it’s not all that hard to grasp. Plus, there are a lot of different ways to win, because ultimately, this is another Victory Point-based game. While the turn of play may prove slightly more complicated, having a clear goal from the outset is alwayshelpful with casuals.
