Written by Squire Greene; Featured photograph by Daniel Parish

Are you tired of playing Cards Against Humanity? Do you wish you could get your non-gamer friends to play more board games with you? Are you new to the hobby and looking for a good starting point for your collection? Don’t worry. I have a semi-redundant, highly opinionated top-ten list for you: 10 Tabletop Games for Beginners!

I do have a few disclaimers:

First, if you don’t own Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne, start there. These three games are often considered the pillars of hobby gaming and are a good starting point for most new players. Do you want to learn how to play slots games? discover more.

Second, this list is in no way definitive. I have not played every game out there and there may be some undiscovered treasures I don’t mention. If you know of any games that you think should be on this list, please mention them in the comments.

Third, while this is a top ten list, these game are not ranked in any particular order, just remember that my favorite one is still Hausbautipps. They are my personal favorite games to teach people, and I tried to encompass as many different play mechanics and game types as possible.

1. King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo takes the very familiar dice mechanic of Yahtzee and combines it with a Godzilla movie. Players choose a Kaiju-style monster and fight it out in this attractive, well produced game by iEllo. I like teaching this game because many people already understand the concept of locking dice on multiple dice rolls. Even if players have no previous knowledge of this mechanic, its simplicity makes for fairly common-sense play. Put this simple mechanic together with well drawn cartoon monsters and a bright colorful board, and you have a game people want to come back and play time and time again. Plus, who doesn’t love chucking big, chunky dice?

Advanced Choice: King of New York

Alternate Choices: Age of War, Zombie Dice

2. Forbidden Island or Forbidden Desert

Both of these games are very similar in design and playability. I prefer to teach Forbidden Desert mainly because it is the game I have in my personal collection. In both of these games, players work cooperatively to accomplish a goal while the conditions of the board begin to degrade, either by the island sinking or the sandstorm picking up. These games are great for beginners for several reasons. First, there is no player elimination. If someone dies everyone loses. Second, it introduces new players to cooperative play, resource management, and special roles. Third, it is inexpensive but a lot of game for the money.

Alternate Choice: Pandemic

3. Sushi Go!

Sushi Go! is a cute, little card game, great for beginners and gamers of all ages. It is simple, easy to pick up, and well produced. It introduces players to card drafting, which is a mechanic used in a myriad of other titles. This game is almost too simple for non-gamers, though many people play it just because the theme and artwork are so attractive. It is also inexpensive and can fit in your pocket for gaming on the go.

Advanced Choice: 7 Wonders

4. Lords of Waterdeep

This is an interesting choice for this list. Lords of Waterdeep has a Dungeons & Dragons theme, which can be divisive, especially among non-gamers. It’s more complex than a lot of the other entries and has one of the longer play times on this list. However, I keep going back to this game to introduce people to deeper, euro-style games, and I find that it’s one of the more accessible games to introduce players to the worker placement mechanic. The base game is strategically very tight and scales well with any number of players. If you are worried about the theme, I played this with my sister several times before she exclaimed, “Wait! Did you guys trick me into playing D&D?” It is still one of her favorite games.

Advanced Choice: Raiders of the North Sea

Alternate Choice: Alien Frontiers

5. Tokaido

People are just drawn to this game. Trust me. Tokaido features gorgeous art and the game just stands out on table. Also, the theme is fun and different. Players become travelers on the ancient road between Tokyo and Kyoto. They’re tasked with having the best vacation. To accomplish this, they stop at hot springs, paint murals, buy souvenirs, and eat the finest food. In addition to the wonderful production value and great theme, the gameplay itself is innovative and fun. The player who is in last place gets to go first every turn, rewarding the players who lag behind and stop at the most attractions. Strategy is surprisingly tight and most games are won by a narrow margin. Players will often block your moves if you are in the lead or getting close to a large scoring play.

6. The Resistance

If Forbidden Desert or Pandemic brings friends together, The Resistance tears them apart (in a good way). This game is one of the simplest of the hidden role / traitor genre and lacks the player elimination elements of games like BANG!, Ca$h ‘n Gun$, and Werewolf. Players are randomly dealt a card that pegs them as a loyalist or a traitor. The traitors are then revealed to each other but the loyalists only know their own role for sure. Then, the current leader, which rotates around the table, must choose themselves or other players to go on a mission. Traitors are trying to fail the mission without revealing who they are, and loyalists are trying to root out the spies.

This game is an excellent ice-breaker. I have literally lost my voice convincing people I am loyal and have looked other players dead in the eye and lied to them about being a spy. It is quick, fun, inexpensive, and a great alternative to other party games.

Advanced Choice: Avalon or Resistance + Expansions

Alternate Choice: Good Cop, Bad Cop

7. Dominion

This addition to the 10 Tabletop Games for Beginners is kind of a cheat. Dominion is kind of a pillar game in the same vein as the others previously mentioned. Also, I like almost every other deck-building game I have played better than Dominion. However, Dominion has some qualities that set it apart and make it more accessible for new players. I have found that deck-building games are some of the hardest games to teach. This is not because the mechanics are difficult, but rather because games tend to stall as new players have to read every new card that hits the board and assess its value. Often this leads to a lot of neck craning, table bumping, beer spilling, and general discomfort. Dominion has simple iconography, and all of the cards are revealed at the beginning of the game allowing new players to read the cards during setup or while someone explains the rules. These reasons alone make it as my top pick for deck-building newbies.

Advanced Choice: The DC Deck Building Game

8. Codenames

The second “party” game on my list is Codenames. This team game is great for new players because it allows them to play a few rounds without feeling pressured to make decisions they don’t quite yet understand. That being said, it is quick to teach, and veterans can assume the integral role of team captain in order to show newbies how the game is played. Alternatively you can check out Board Game Card Sleeves to ensure that you have a platform to showcase your game. However, it won’t be long before the new person wants to sit in the hot seat. Okay. I get it. It is very “cult of the new”, but Codenames has been a runaway hit since it came out in 2015. Copies were scarce until the recent reprint. At $20 MSRP, it is a steal and nothing is more fun than feeding the opposite team false clues. Play this, not Cards Against Humanity.

Alternate Choice: Telestrations

9. Splendor

Splendor is an abstract game with a pasted-on theme about mining gems and selling them to nobles. The theme isn’t important; it is a quick playing, high strategy, tableau-builder with high quality components and a tight, competitive feel. Splendor is also easy to teach because players can only perform one action on their turn, much like Ticket to Ride. This is the type of game you would introduce to people that enjoy things like Chess, Checkers, or Go. Players must think ahead, reserve tiles, and build an efficient economy engine.

Advanced Choice: Viceroy

Alternate Choices: Machi Koro or The Duke

10. Mysterium

Mysterium is a cooperative game where one player plays a ghost, and the rest of the players play psychics trying to commune with the ghost to uncover the details of a murder. New players will quickly pick up on the Clue-esque elements of the game as they try to determine who the murderer is, where the murder happened, and with which murder weapon. However, the game uses Dixit-style cards as the method of communication between the ghost and the psychics. These cards are as beautiful as they are vague and deceiving. Sometimes players get in sync and run the table and other times players pull their hair out trying to understand the clues. Again, stellar production values and elegantly simple rules make this a hit with new players.

Alternate Choice: Dixit

Honorable Mentions

Coup

Coup is a great bluffing game with simple rules. It is usually a hit with new players and simulates a poker-style experience. I would recommend it to people who are comfortable bluffing, enjoy poker, and don’t mind a little “take that” in their games.

Love Letter

Love Letter is also a simple card game that is a hit with new players. This just barely missed my list; mainly, because often the theme feels hard to sell to new players. However, it is a great game that should be in everyone’s library and is only $10. I gave away 15 copies of this game for the Valentine’s Day edition of our board game group, which shows you how much I enjoy this one.

Wanna play these games? 

All of these tabletop games for beginners should be a hit with your gaming group, whether it’s filled with new players or veterans. I recommend buying these games from your friendly, local game shop. Nerd Louisville has a full list of game shops in Louisville (and surrounding areas), if you need advice.

There’s also a number of weekly and monthly meetup groups around Louisville where you can find someone to teach you these games or if you’re just looking for more friends to play with. I run a board game night at Kaiju every Monday from 8 p.m. to midnight.

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