recommend me a GF-friendly boardgame

[Razgon]

So, I noticed a lot of you guys are knowledgable about board games, and while I'd LOVE to play Spacehulk with my GF, I'm not sure its something for her.

So, can you recommend me a boardgame thats fun, and would appeal to a girl as well? OH, and she does love games (xbox) and great shows like Battlestar, Lost and so on, so not your typical "thats just silly nonsense" kinda girl.

And even better if kids can play as well (aged 10 and 13)

[Graham]

My wife doesn't like very many games, but I can recommend a few that she does like.

Carcassonne.  We got the Big Box 2 recently and took the main game along on a cruise.  You will get a lot of bang for your buck with this game.  Your kids could play this easily.

Ticket to Ride.  This game is liked by gamers and non-gamers alike.  Could easily be played by your kids as well.  My recommendation would be to get the original with the 1910 expansion.  You get regular sized cards with the expansion, as well as more tickets.

Pandemic.  This is a co-op game that has a scalable difficulty.  Can be played by 2-4, and the upcoming expansion goes up to five.

Dominion.  If you have played any CCG games but don't want to try to spend more collecting new cards, this is a game that satisfies that itch.  While some have compared Dominion to Race for the Galaxy, I prefer Dominion more.

These are a few of the "staple" games, but if you have questions on others, I'd be happy to try to answer.

[Bullwinkle]

I agree with most of the ones listed, though I haven't tried Pandemic yet.  It seemed like it might be a bit much for my wife, but it's quite popular, so I may give it a go.  I haven't tried Dominion with her yet, but my daughter and I played, and it's a lot of fun.  I'm pretty sure she'll enjoy it, if I can convince her to play (I have the feeling she's dreading it).

There's a BSG game that's supposed to be pretty good, too.  You might want to take a look at that.

[CeeKay]

I was going to recommend Strip Monopoly until I saw the kdis part, so how about Mille Bornes?  it's a card game but pretty fun.

[Jag]

Is Carcassonne hard? I'm wondering if my 8 year old and I can play. He loves Risk and Stratego. (I don't know much about board games )

[Boudreaux]

If he gets Risk and Stratego, he can play Carcassonne.  No worries.

[El-Producto]

My girlfriend has a low geek tolerance, but we enjoy playing Mr. Jack, Lost Cities, and Settlers of Catan (when we have company).

Still haven't convinced her to play Arkham Horror, or Battlelore ;(

[kronovan]

+1 to Carcassonne and Ticket to Ride; 2 great games with general appeal and easy enough for a 10 year old. I'd also recommend Catan as a game that has similar qualities and appeal. My #1 recommendation however wouldn't be for a board game , it would instead be for the card game Collossal Arena. My wife and both of my kids (9 and 12) love that game and my 9 year old daughter is often the winner.

[Graham]

I didn't mention Settlers of Catan since you need 3-4 players, and it might be a bit more difficult for kids.

I would not get BSG unless you have a group of friends that gets together to play regularly.  It plays with 3-6, but recommend most for 5-6 players.  It would also be a bit complicated for younger kids.

If your kids are boys, you might look into Heroscape.  It is a miniatures game, but if you can get Master Set 1, you'll get a lot of land and figures.  It is easy to learn, and you have two levels of complexity.  I doubt it is GF-friendly unless she can stand the thought of samurai, soldiers, knights, and ogres all fighting against each other at the same time.

[Razgon]

Awesome tips guys - thanks! I have a craving for some really fun board game we can play, that is a bit different from monopoly (Although Ceekays suggestion was actually pretty, I'll have to look into that :-D )

My kids are both girls, but both loved the old Hero Quest I have, and likes fantasy movies and books as well. And the gf loves movies like Xmen, District 9 and so on, so I'm not worried about introducing heros, aliens and the like :-)

We have a few speciality shops here in dk that carries these kind of games, but other than that, its monopoly, Risk or Ludo thats avaialble - for some reason we're not a nation of boardgamers, but we do like our Yatzee :-D

[Graham]

You might look to online shops for some of these games.

If you are a fan of comics, then Marvel Heroscape would be a good way to get a taste of Heroscape, though it includes scenarios, while the full Heroscape is mostly about armies killing each other.

[Doopri]

am i the only jerk on earth who REALLY doesn't like carcassonne?  i sort of hate tile laying games in general, and this one bugs me to no end

though feel free to change my mind by playing a few games with me on xbox (it was given away free at one point - i DIDNT buy it )

[Razgon]

am i the only jerk on earth who REALLY doesn't like carcassonne?  i sort of hate tile laying games in general, and this one bugs me to no end

though feel free to change my mind by playing a few games with me on xbox (it was given away free at one point - i DIDNT buy it )

Never tried it, so cant answer you there :-) One thing though - for me board games looses a LOT of its appeal by playing it online on a computer/console - it lacks the friends/family spirit that I associate with board games

[Boudreaux]

am i the only jerk on earth who REALLY doesn't like carcassonne?  i sort of hate tile laying games in general, and this one bugs me to no end

Nope.  I'll play it on occasion but it's definitely one of the more vanilla boardgames.  The simplicity and easy theme that make it so accessible are what make it kind of bland, in my mind.  It's great if all you've ever played are Milton Bradley games, but there are tons of even better boardgames out there.

[hentzau]

Crokinole.



It's my current obsession.  And my wife and kids love to play too.

[Nth Power]

I'll throw in a vote for Dominion and Carcassonne.  They are both fun and easy to learn and play.  
Our group has been playing lots of Dominion and it's expansion lately and it's risen to one of our favorites.

Lord of the Rings is another fun cooperative game.  You follow the events from the trilogy and try to defeat Sauron.  Our group usually ends up losing though.  Still it's fun and can get pretty tense.

[Raider H]

In addition to highly recommending many of the choices above:  Carcassone, Lost Cities, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan - I would also recommend 'Roll Through the Ages the Bronze Age' and 'Bohnanza.'

My wife is a serious non-gamer and she enjoys all of the above (especially Lost Cities, Roll Through the Ages, and Bohnanza).  Actually, now that I think about it, she also likes Galaxy Trucker quite a bit due to the tile laying and design aspects. YMMV on that one though.

Online is the best place to pick up these type of games as you'll easily save 20% or more per game compared to a specialty brick and mortar store.

I'm sure its been said before but www.boardgamegeek.com is the place to go for literally everything you ever wanted to know about every boardgame that ever existed or may someday exist in the future (and that's not far from the truth).  Always wished we had a similar site like that for video games.

[Bullwinkle]

I've seen 'Roll Through the Ages the Bronze Age' but never thought it might be something the family would be interested in.  I had no idea it was a dice game.  I'll be giving that one a look.

My wife liked Bohnanza a lot.  I didn't really get into it, for some reason.  It's pretty popular, though, in general.

I'm shocked that Boardgamegeek.com wasn't mentioned here already!

[Razgon]

Thanks guys - some good stuff in here that I'll be sure to look into.

My daugther said she had tried a game called Cranium as well, I'll get that too - should be rather fun too

[Azhag]

Cranium's a cross between pictionary and a quiz game (plus sculpting). Very good family game.

[Daehawk]

Hello Kitty Monopoly?

[konki]

I would say Scrabble

[Rich]

I would say Scrabble

Oddly enough my ex-wife used to love this game even though she never came close to winning a single time.  I second the usual fare of Ticket to Ride and Lost Cities although I really don't enjoy TtR with only 2 players.  Actually just about any of the Days of Wonder games outside of the Memoir series would work well.

Winner's Circle is another friendly entry level boardgame, it's a horse racing/betting game that used to go by the name of Royal Turf, it went over really well with my mother and my sisters at a holiday a couple years ago.

Battleline is another good card game for two.

Poison is a very simple card game that sucks until you play with 4 people then it gets good fast, if you can count to 13 you can play it.

Carcassonne: The Castle is a bit different from regular Carcassonne I believe and it is designed for only 2 players, I've actually only played the Castle variation.

Milles Bornes was mentioned, I used to play this a lot as a kid and even remember owning a americanized version of it with a Cannonball Run theme and board pasted onto it.

I have several unopened games in my collection that probably fit the bill but I haven't tried them so I can't say for sure.

[Bullwinkle]

I would say Scrabble

Oddly enough my ex-wife used to love this game even though she never came close to winning a single time.  I second the usual fare of Ticket to Ride and Lost Cities although I really don't enjoy TtR with only 2 players.  Actually just about any of the Days of Wonder games outside of the Memoir series would work well.

Winner's Circle is another friendly entry level boardgame, it's a horse racing/betting game that used to go by the name of Royal Turf, it went over really well with my mother and my sisters at a holiday a couple years ago.

Battleline is another good card game for two.

Poison is a very simple card game that sucks until you play with 4 people then it gets good fast, if you can count to 13 you can play it.

Carcassonne: The Castle is a bit different from regular Carcassonne I believe and it is designed for only 2 players, I've actually only played the Castle variation.

Milles Bornes was mentioned, I used to play this a lot as a kid and even remember owning a americanized version of it with a Cannonball Run theme and board pasted onto it.

I have several unopened games in my collection that probably fit the bill but I haven't tried them so I can't say for sure.

Not that the Memoir series isn't great, just not GF-friendly, unless she's really into WWII.

We had Royal Turf and loved it!  May have to get that out for my daughter.

I keep hearing Battle Line is good, but the box art is so unappealing.

[Isgrimnur]

Guillotine

[Razgon]

Guillotine

I actually have this!! Its just in english, and not sure my kids could understand it, although the eldest does read enlish books now (yay!)

[Bullwinkle]

Guillotine is an excellent game.

[Fez]

I didn't mention Settlers of Catan since you need 3-4 players, and it might be a bit more difficult for kids.

I would not get BSG unless you have a group of friends that gets together to play regularly.  It plays with 3-6, but recommend most for 5-6 players.  It would also be a bit complicated for younger kids.

If your kids are boys, you might look into Heroscape.  It is a miniatures game, but if you can get Master Set 1, you'll get a lot of land and figures.  It is easy to learn, and you have two levels of complexity.  I doubt it is GF-friendly unless she can stand the thought of samurai, soldiers, knights, and ogres all fighting against each other at the same time.

The Settlers of Catan card game is for two players and it's fairly GF friendly I'd say.

[kronovan]

I didn't mention Settlers of Catan since you need 3-4 players, and it might be a bit more difficult for kids.

I would not get BSG unless you have a group of friends that gets together to play regularly.  It plays with 3-6, but recommend most for 5-6 players.  It would also be a bit complicated for younger kids

If your kids are boys, you might look into Heroscape.  It is a miniatures game, but if you can get Master Set 1, you'll get a lot of land and figures.  It is easy to learn, and you have two levels of complexity.  I doubt it is GF-friendly unless she can stand the thought of samurai, soldiers, knights, and ogres all fighting against each other at the same time.

The Settlers of Catan card game is for two players and it's fairly GF friendly I'd say.

+1 I often play the card game with my son. Well it doesn't quite capture the magic of the boardgame IMO, it's still very good and one of the better card-based strategy games around.

[Purge]

Blokus Classic. It's a mind game that is akin to tron bike racing.

You are trying to trap other players, and you can only put pieces down that touch your own prev. pieces corner to corner. You can never have two of your pieces connect side-to-side. My 5 year old plays it (although it's still a bit beyond him) but it is very fun. 2-4 players.

[Graham]

Blokus Classic. It's a mind game that is akin to tron bike racing.

You are trying to trap other players, and you can only put pieces down that touch your own prev. pieces corner to corner. You can never have two of your pieces connect side-to-side. My 5 year old plays it (although it's still a bit beyond him) but it is very fun. 2-4 players.

In a similar vein, I just got Rumis at Tuesday Morning for $10.  You can also find it as Blokus 3-D.  About the only video game my wife likes is Tetris, and this game has some similar qualities.  You might want to look for either version.

[raydude]

Have you tried playing Space Hulk with your gf? Cause according to this review, women love it

http://www.downtimetown.com/2009/09/11/downtimetown-episode-7-space-hulk/