Board games are an interesting thing because it's one of those global trends that did not originate in the US. Instead it game from Germany but with quite a bit of delay.
The German version of settlers came out around 1995 IIRC and sparked a big revival of board games (and strategic board games in particular in Germany. Then some time around 2008 or so I had friends in NZ and OZ who used to not play board games tell me about this cool game the wanted to play. I was quite surprised that it was settlers which I had not played since moving overseas in 2004.
So yeah the whole revival originated in Germany, but took about 10 years to suddenly go global.
To be clear, board games have been extremely popular in Germany for a very long time. They just got even MORE popular. I'm not sure there was a house in post-war West Germany that didn't have at least a "games collection", something more or less like this: https://www.amazon.de/Ravensburger-01315-9-Familienspiele/dp...
German boardgames became popular in the late 90s in the UK (although even before then several spiel de jarhes games were in mainstream shops like Toys R Us -- Hare and Tortoise and Scotland Yard come to mind)
Earlier in the 90s the games that were mainly for sale were games like Britania, History of the World, etc. Axis and Allies was always around too.
The German games brought in shorter games though, which didn't take an entire afternoon to play.
With the exception of board games that are related to existing games I already like, I treat Kickstarter as a negative signal for the first year.
Similar to a video game licensed movie, or a movie licensed video game; even if the title has elements I enjoy, I've been burned enough. Playing it is the only way I'll know I love it.
I can't even trust data collection on BGG, because typically the first wave of Kickstarter ratings are by people who have boarded the hype train.
Followed by a re-alignment when people who are playing friends' copies step in.
Component quality bias, as well as cost bias are related (and typically compounded by Kickstarter) phenomena.
I stopped kickstarting games too because I've had like a 10% hit rate.
One clear signal to me now is if they offer additional game mechanics as a stretch goal. It's hard enough balancing the base game and making it compelling. If a designer thinks they can do this not once but twice, and in a modular way no less, I question their design sensibilities in the first place.
It's possible that this is a flaw of kickstarting board games in general. The platform incentivizes stretch goals and they don't map well onto most board games.
I think it's important to keep in mind that Kickstarter is not intended for purchasing a proven product, but to fund a product that you believe in, that you think needs to be made. It doesn't always work out that way in practice, but this is what it's intended to be.
For boardgames, stretch goals should indeed not be about adding or changing mechanics; that's a red flag. Stretch goals should probably mostly be about better quality components. Wooden or plastic pieces instead of cardboard, metal pieces instead of wood or plastic, a nicer board, more art, that sort of thing.
Extra options can work if options are already a big part of the game, and these are options the designer seriously considered but left out because they're not essential and too expensive to include. More money could mean they now can afford the non-essential options they originally intended but couldn't afford. But completely new game mechanics are a massive red flag.
It's worth noting that stretch goals are the area where a lot of Kickstarter projects mess up. Their original idea was good, but it was too successful and they promised too ambitious stretch goals which were just in the idea stage and never got properly developed, and suddenly they find themselves having promised things they don't have time for. I think this is one of the primary reasons why successfully over-funded projects end up being late.
An often overlapping problem is designers splitting a game into "expansions" that they sell at launch as part of the KS. "Here's the core game, it's everything you need to play! Not too expensive right? ....but here's an expansion with some new races. And another with a new hero. And another with some new missions. They're totally optional, but if you don't back them now you'll never ever find them in retail. How much do you trust that we've put all the good bits in the core?"
Awaken Realms has been one of the worst offenders with this (both fake stretch goals and fake expansions) but their newest KS (Nemesis Lockdown) actually abandoned all that for timed feature announcements.
As someone who isn't a huge board game nerd, would additional cosmetics or characters be reasonable stretch goals? Characters might be harder to balance but if you have extra money, you might be able to invest more into it.
This is an approach similar to what a video game might do.
Board games are uniquely well-adapted to the crowdfunding format because the game design can be 100% complete and playtested before any art or manufacturing has even started. (Of course, you need some art to sell the Kickstarter.) The upfront capital for developing a board game is about $40 at the art store.
In the extreme case, some campaigns link to a print-and-play version of the game so you can “try before you buy”. Try to do that with a video game!
The thing is that Early Access has a very(rightfully so) bad reputation - because board game design needs to be finished prior to campaign, whereas you can drop empty game in early access, promise quite a lot.. and then abandon the project.
Its strange to me that the article says that board games are booming during the pandemic.
I haven't been able to have a regular board game night in months :-( I tried online but didn't love it (I suppose I should try it some more); I wish I could see how to do it in person and maintain physical distance, but it looks doubtful.
I also have some friends who entered into a quarantine pact. They don’t go around anyone else except each other. That way they can keep meeting up for board game night.
You should try out Tabletop Simulator for board games, or Roll20 for tabletop roleplaying like D&D. Both of these offer good options for online gaming in this space.
As an aside, does anyone know where I could learn about Tabletop Simulator? I keep seeing it recommended, but when I got a copy I can't stand the UI. I feel like I'm always grabbing the wrong thing and accidentally losing pieces off the edge etc. I've tried playing the puzzle game and the Majong and both were terrible. I then tried a community version of Race for the Galaxy that nearly drove me crazy.
I'm lucky enough to have 5 other friends that decided we're the only people we will be seeing in person. None of us are in situations requiring interactions with other people (IE essential workers) and we're all in the same wavelength regarding hygiene.
I've played many times and it works great. Def worth having someone in your common circle that participates a lot to purchase the additional member pass (up to 4 players is free). The only thing is that it doesn't take into account extension pack rules for higher number of players but to me that's barely an issue let alone a deal breaker.
I played JSettlers a lot, ages ago. The (free) host moved around a bit, so would lose its critical mass of players. Looks like it lives on here: https://github.com/jdmonin/JSettlers2
I haven't tried colonist.io (cited in other reply), though from a brief peek it looks very polished. Am eager to try it.
So I went through a phase of backing a lot of board game Kickstarters, which probably started with Scythe, a game I missed out on (and bought off the BGG marketplace, at a premium). But I think Scythe is an outlier here.
I've gotten a number of mediocre games but some good ones (eg 7th Continent, Gloomhaven). In some cases what I bought ended up being cheaper at retail. I have gotten some reprints though, which are of course more of a known quantity.
I will say though that one nice thing to come out of all of this is "premium pieces". That's why I bought the Scythe Collector's edition. The game remains the same for those unwilling or unable to pay the premium but for people like myself with the ability and inclination to do so, it makes the gaming experience just a little nicer.
But I rarely back Kickstarters now. I'm glad it exists as a means of bootstrapping games.
Too pure a "game" and you'd prefer a bit more theme? Maybe a chance to see how history might have been different if you'd been in charge during the Cold War?: Twilight Struggle.
Pandemic [0] is a fantastic co-op game with a relevant-to-the-times theme. If you like the base game, then consider Pandemic Legacy [1], which is probably the best board game I've ever played.
And if you just want some chaotic fun, Magic Maze [2] is a real-time, co-op game where the division of labor is split along actions (move up/down, move left/right) rather than across players. There's a very short time-limit, so games are quick but stressful, if you take them seriously, or hilarious, if you don't.
Two quick games that qualify, that are liked by people who like the games you have:
Azul: (lovely) tile laying reminiscent of stained glass. Games take 30-45 minutes and explaining the game takes just a few of those.
Kingdomino: tile laying around a castle to connect different types of lands for points. Has an effective mechanic to trade off getting better tiles against future opportunity. Children play this game easily but adults also like it.
Note that Azul is a masonry game but the sequel, Azul: Stained Glass Sintra, is about stained glass. Both are excellent, but I personally find the sequel just overall a better experience.
Occult is just one of many, many popular themes in board games. Others are:
* trains (Trans America, Ticket to Ride, Empire Builder, 1830)
* animals (Wingspan has been mentioned),
* building (Catan, Pillars of the Earth, Argicola),
* trading (Le Havre, Cuba) (note: trading as a theme, not necessarily a game mechanic)
* evolution (Primordial Soup, Evolution)
* space combat (Core Worlds, X-Wing)
* history (Through the Ages, Civilization)
(I've tried to order the games roughly from easy to complex)
It's certainly true that fantasy, horror, and occult are also popular themes. Perhaps more so in Anglo-Saxon-style games than in Eurogames, which can be about extremely mundane things, like maintaining a garden or sewing a patchwork.
A couple of other interesting non-fantasy games:
El Dorado (finding your way through the wilderness)
Power Grid (generating power and supplying it to cities)
Terraforming Mars (theme is obvious)
Twilight Struggle (the Cold War)
Check on BoardgameGeek[0]. Also pay attention to complexity, time and age requirements. Some games are very big, complex and time-consuming, others are quick and easy. Catan, Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne are all classics that fall somewhere in the middle.
I think personally I wouldn't say having a "witch" as a character in a game would make it occult related, but assuming that you do find it that way, then here are some games I've enjoyed that I don't think even remotely touch on the occult.
What do you mean by "occult" - as in, like, literally they seem to tie into subjects you have a religious objection to? Or just that they seem like they're designed by and for spooky people who hide in basements?
Who are you playing with? Kids? Adults? Do you have a regular group? How large is the group? How often are you looking to play, and how long into the night?
What do you like about Catan, TTR, and Carcassonne? What older boardgames did you like before?
Like, I can say if you like the mechanics of TTR and the leveling-up feel of Catan, you should get Splendor... but if you're hungry for just more Catan, with deeper and more elaborate gameplay I'd say jump to Cities and Knights of Catan, the expantion that makes the game level up higher.
Do you love the tile laying of Carcassonne, but want something where you feel like you have more control? Get Kingdomino.
If you love tile laying but want less control and more mayhem, and love the exasperated agony of watching your hard work collapse? Including real-time rushing? Like, ever tried playing Jenga with a chess-clock? If that sounds fun, get Galaxy Truckers.
Want to explore the social side? Have a large group? Resistance Avalon. The game is pure social deduction - figure out who among you are traitors before they take control of the game. If your group is in for black comedy, there's a Weimar Republic themed game that's similar called Secret Hitler.
Ever tried a co-op game? Want something thematic to our modern pain? Pandemic - you and a bunch of specialists run around the world treating cities and hunting for cures.
Each of them are widely popular recent games that have a similar amount of rules to the ones you own and still offer some good strategy and fun for nearly everyone I've played with.
FYI I was kind of surprised when I saw that game only received a 7.5, but then I checked Catan for reference an that only received a 7.2 rating so make of that what you will.
Generally: Mechs and Minions, Zombicide Agricola and Pandemic
For family fun 'Bang'
Munchkin' is the go to game when we have annual holiday with some uni friends. Great speed of game, the betrayal element is great for that crowd plus kids 10+ enjoy and get in on the adult banter.
I was ready to chide you for sending this person on a fruitless quest for a copy of Modern Art, only to find out they have been reprinting the proper version again since at least last year! I fell in love with it playing a friend of a friend's copy, but for years the only version in print had the auction elements removed.
Sagrada is one I've personally played and recommend. I've heard a lot of people recommend Sushi Go but I haven't given it a play myself.
Check out BoardGameGeek if you haven't yet, there's every theme and mechanic out there you can think of, and you can see games related to ones you already like, highest rated games, curated lists, etc.
Hanabi is a good cooperative puzzle game based around a fireworks factory.
If you like games with an economic component, the Power Grid franchise is fun to play. Each map has a special twist on the rules, such as not being able to buy uranium on the North Korean market, and you can only buy from the North or South market each turn (not both).
> I'd really like to get into more board games, but so many of them have an occult flavor to them.
How did you come to this conclusion? It's... completely disconnected from reality.
If I go to boardgamegeek.com and look at the "the hotness" sidebar, there are 15 games (of which two, Gloomhaven and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, would appear to be closely related).
In descending order of "occult flavor":
1. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
2. Spirit Island (in which you play as pagan deities trying to repel the forces of civilization)
3. Gloomhaven (perfectly ordinary dungeon crawler, as far as I see)
4. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
5. Lost Ruins of Arnak (makes some reference to "fearsome guardians" associated with the remnants of a lost civilization)
At this point, there is zero "occult flavor" associated with any of the 10 remaining games. So, in the order listed on the site:
6. Pendulum - "Players command their workers, execute stratagems, and expand the provinces in their domain in real time to gain resources and move up the four victory tracks: power, prestige, popularity, and legendary achievement."
7. Dead Reckoning - "is a game of exploration, piracy, and influence based in a Caribbean-esque setting. Each player commands a ship and crew and seeks to amass the greatest fortune."
8. Imperial Struggle - "is a two-player game depicting the 18th-century rivalry between France and Britain. It begins in 1697, as the two realms wait warily for the King of Spain to name an heir, and ends in 1789, when a new order brought down the Bastille."
9. Terraforming Mars - "Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things."
10. Godzilla: Tokyo Clash - "you play as the Earth's most fearsome Kaiju — Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Megalon — battling for dominance as the most terrifying monster in Japan."
11. Wingspan - "You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves."
12. Maracaibo - "is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The players try to increase their influence in three nations in four rounds with a play time of 40 minutes per player."
13. Brass: Birmingham - "tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870. As in its predecessor, you must develop, build, and establish your industries and network, in an effort to exploit low or high market demands."
14. Everdell - "the time has come for new territories to be settled and new cities established. You will be the leader of a group of critters [forest wildlife] intent on just such a task. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?"
15. Root - "The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats."
I was inclined to disagree with the OP, but if a third of the top board games could reasonably be described as having an occult flavor, they seem connected with reality. That’s high enough that it seems okay to ask for help choosing a game.
Gloomhaven is full of demons and Lovecraftian monsters to fight, by the way, and the player characters use summons and dark magic. Great game; we’re on roughly our 40th play session tomorrow!
How is it "completely disconnected from reality" if a third of the games in your random sample fit the description?
Admittedly "occult" is a bit vague. Does it refer to everything with a fantasy or supernatural theme? Then it's undeniable that it's a popular theme for games. Fantasy, magic, horror, superheroes; there's plenty there that sparks the imagination of gamers and game designers, and if that's a theme someone dislikes or objects to, then that's a pretty big chunk they're losing out on.
Still, there are indeed a lot of games that don't touch on any of those topics at all. Shop around a bit, look into different kind of games.
Or use BBG's advanced search[0] to filter out all the themes you don't like[1]. (In this search, I filtered out everything fantasy, horror, religious or mythological.)
Some we like are Azul, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Kingdomino, Splendor, Castles of Burgundy, Pandemic: Iberia, Lanterns, Isle of Skye, Concordia, Kingdom Builder, and Potion Explosion.
I'm not sure Dominion is a great choice if the OP is trying to avoid anything occult-related. Isn't the Witch a card in the base set?
OP, I would just go on BoardGameGeek and browse through the top-rated games. Just looking at a game's page should be enough to tell you if the content is acceptable.
You're getting some downvotes for this recommendation it looks like.
My personal observations about BSG:
As a traitor-mechanic game it suffers severely if the traitor doesn't know how to play well or if someone gets bored and isn't paying attention.
Again in particular with coop-with-traitor-mechanic games, it is very vulnerable to loud alpha-gamer quarterbacking ("Hey! Everyone needs to support this plan because it's clearly The Best Plan, and if you don't you're clearly the traitor because you're playing sub-optimally.")
It takes a long time, 2 hours minimum and I've been subjected to 4 hour games.
Put simply, it is generally not fun for a rookie gamer.
Recommendation:If this game of cooperative play with traitor mechanic sounds interesting to you, I recommend the game "The Resistance: Avalon", which has similar mechanics but plays in 20 minutes optimally and 50 minutes for a slow game. Compare with 120 minutes to 240 minutes in my experience for BSG.
Disclaimer:I've played BSG twice (same group), I've hated it twice, and I refuse to play it anymore. I do not consider myself a rookie, and I personally prefer shorter (120 minutes or less), simpler games.
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The German version of settlers came out around 1995 IIRC and sparked a big revival of board games (and strategic board games in particular in Germany. Then some time around 2008 or so I had friends in NZ and OZ who used to not play board games tell me about this cool game the wanted to play. I was quite surprised that it was settlers which I had not played since moving overseas in 2004.
So yeah the whole revival originated in Germany, but took about 10 years to suddenly go global.
Earlier in the 90s the games that were mainly for sale were games like Britania, History of the World, etc. Axis and Allies was always around too.
The German games brought in shorter games though, which didn't take an entire afternoon to play.
Similar to a video game licensed movie, or a movie licensed video game; even if the title has elements I enjoy, I've been burned enough. Playing it is the only way I'll know I love it.
I can't even trust data collection on BGG, because typically the first wave of Kickstarter ratings are by people who have boarded the hype train. Followed by a re-alignment when people who are playing friends' copies step in.
Component quality bias, as well as cost bias are related (and typically compounded by Kickstarter) phenomena.
One clear signal to me now is if they offer additional game mechanics as a stretch goal. It's hard enough balancing the base game and making it compelling. If a designer thinks they can do this not once but twice, and in a modular way no less, I question their design sensibilities in the first place.
It's possible that this is a flaw of kickstarting board games in general. The platform incentivizes stretch goals and they don't map well onto most board games.
For boardgames, stretch goals should indeed not be about adding or changing mechanics; that's a red flag. Stretch goals should probably mostly be about better quality components. Wooden or plastic pieces instead of cardboard, metal pieces instead of wood or plastic, a nicer board, more art, that sort of thing.
Extra options can work if options are already a big part of the game, and these are options the designer seriously considered but left out because they're not essential and too expensive to include. More money could mean they now can afford the non-essential options they originally intended but couldn't afford. But completely new game mechanics are a massive red flag.
It's worth noting that stretch goals are the area where a lot of Kickstarter projects mess up. Their original idea was good, but it was too successful and they promised too ambitious stretch goals which were just in the idea stage and never got properly developed, and suddenly they find themselves having promised things they don't have time for. I think this is one of the primary reasons why successfully over-funded projects end up being late.
Awaken Realms has been one of the worst offenders with this (both fake stretch goals and fake expansions) but their newest KS (Nemesis Lockdown) actually abandoned all that for timed feature announcements.
Hopefully the start of a trend.
This is an approach similar to what a video game might do.
In the extreme case, some campaigns link to a print-and-play version of the game so you can “try before you buy”. Try to do that with a video game!
Also: Even a long time ago, both Quake and Quake 3 Arena had free versions out in the open before their relase.
Deleted Comment
I haven't been able to have a regular board game night in months :-( I tried online but didn't love it (I suppose I should try it some more); I wish I could see how to do it in person and maintain physical distance, but it looks doubtful.
Households of more than 1 member are probably looking for more things to do at home together.
I also have some friends who entered into a quarantine pact. They don’t go around anyone else except each other. That way they can keep meeting up for board game night.
I've played many times and it works great. Def worth having someone in your common circle that participates a lot to purchase the additional member pass (up to 4 players is free). The only thing is that it doesn't take into account extension pack rules for higher number of players but to me that's barely an issue let alone a deal breaker.
I haven't tried colonist.io (cited in other reply), though from a brief peek it looks very polished. Am eager to try it.
I've gotten a number of mediocre games but some good ones (eg 7th Continent, Gloomhaven). In some cases what I bought ended up being cheaper at retail. I have gotten some reprints though, which are of course more of a known quantity.
I will say though that one nice thing to come out of all of this is "premium pieces". That's why I bought the Scythe Collector's edition. The game remains the same for those unwilling or unable to pay the premium but for people like myself with the ability and inclination to do so, it makes the gaming experience just a little nicer.
But I rarely back Kickstarters now. I'm glad it exists as a means of bootstrapping games.
Suggestions? I have Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Carcassonne.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/41/cant-stop
Too pure a "game" and you'd prefer a bit more theme? Maybe a chance to see how history might have been different if you'd been in charge during the Cold War?: Twilight Struggle.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/51380/game-twiligh...
Better to stay away from politics as well as the occult? Is it OK to make wine (you are not obliged to drink the wine)?: Viticulture
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/128621/viticulture
If it's OK to make wine, how about whisky?: Clans of Caledonia
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/216132/clans-caledonia
If it's not OK to make wine (or whisky) how about electricity?: Power Grid
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid
And if you just want some chaotic fun, Magic Maze [2] is a real-time, co-op game where the division of labor is split along actions (move up/down, move left/right) rather than across players. There's a very short time-limit, so games are quick but stressful, if you take them seriously, or hilarious, if you don't.
[0] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic
[1] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/161936/pandemic-legacy-s...
[2] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/209778/magic-maze
Azul: (lovely) tile laying reminiscent of stained glass. Games take 30-45 minutes and explaining the game takes just a few of those.
Kingdomino: tile laying around a castle to connect different types of lands for points. Has an effective mechanic to trade off getting better tiles against future opportunity. Children play this game easily but adults also like it.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266192/wingspan
* trains (Trans America, Ticket to Ride, Empire Builder, 1830)
* animals (Wingspan has been mentioned),
* building (Catan, Pillars of the Earth, Argicola),
* trading (Le Havre, Cuba) (note: trading as a theme, not necessarily a game mechanic)
* evolution (Primordial Soup, Evolution)
* space combat (Core Worlds, X-Wing)
* history (Through the Ages, Civilization)
(I've tried to order the games roughly from easy to complex)
It's certainly true that fantasy, horror, and occult are also popular themes. Perhaps more so in Anglo-Saxon-style games than in Eurogames, which can be about extremely mundane things, like maintaining a garden or sewing a patchwork.
A couple of other interesting non-fantasy games:
El Dorado (finding your way through the wilderness)
Power Grid (generating power and supplying it to cities)
Terraforming Mars (theme is obvious)
Twilight Struggle (the Cold War)
Check on BoardgameGeek[0]. Also pay attention to complexity, time and age requirements. Some games are very big, complex and time-consuming, others are quick and easy. Catan, Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne are all classics that fall somewhere in the middle.
[0] https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame
- Photosynthesis, a competitive puzzle game where you are a species of tree. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/218603/photosynthesis
- Flash Point, a cooperative game where you are a team of fire fighters. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/100901/flash-point-fire-...
- Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra, a game where you make stained glass windows. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/256226/azul-stained-glas...
What do you mean by "occult" - as in, like, literally they seem to tie into subjects you have a religious objection to? Or just that they seem like they're designed by and for spooky people who hide in basements?
Who are you playing with? Kids? Adults? Do you have a regular group? How large is the group? How often are you looking to play, and how long into the night?
What do you like about Catan, TTR, and Carcassonne? What older boardgames did you like before?
Like, I can say if you like the mechanics of TTR and the leveling-up feel of Catan, you should get Splendor... but if you're hungry for just more Catan, with deeper and more elaborate gameplay I'd say jump to Cities and Knights of Catan, the expantion that makes the game level up higher.
Do you love the tile laying of Carcassonne, but want something where you feel like you have more control? Get Kingdomino.
If you love tile laying but want less control and more mayhem, and love the exasperated agony of watching your hard work collapse? Including real-time rushing? Like, ever tried playing Jenga with a chess-clock? If that sounds fun, get Galaxy Truckers.
Want to explore the social side? Have a large group? Resistance Avalon. The game is pure social deduction - figure out who among you are traitors before they take control of the game. If your group is in for black comedy, there's a Weimar Republic themed game that's similar called Secret Hitler.
Ever tried a co-op game? Want something thematic to our modern pain? Pandemic - you and a bunch of specialists run around the world treating cities and hunting for cures.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191862/imhotephttps://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/191876/ulm
- Quacks of Quedlinberg: https://www.boardgameatlas.com/search/game/M7r9tO1GbX/the-qu...
- Wingspan: https://www.boardgameatlas.com/search/game/5H5JS0KLzK/wingsp...
- Tiny Towns: https://www.boardgameatlas.com/search/game/iEEoo9hTRo/tiny-t...
- Welcome To: https://www.boardgameatlas.com/search/game/I77I9HybTm/welcom...
Each of them are widely popular recent games that have a similar amount of rules to the ones you own and still offer some good strategy and fun for nearly everyone I've played with.
FYI I was kind of surprised when I saw that game only received a 7.5, but then I checked Catan for reference an that only received a 7.2 rating so make of that what you will.
Have a look at eg the full list of games on boardgamegeek https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame?sort=rank (sorted by rating).
For family fun 'Bang'
Munchkin' is the go to game when we have annual holiday with some uni friends. Great speed of game, the betrayal element is great for that crowd plus kids 10+ enjoy and get in on the adult banter.
Check out BoardGameGeek if you haven't yet, there's every theme and mechanic out there you can think of, and you can see games related to ones you already like, highest rated games, curated lists, etc.
If you like games with an economic component, the Power Grid franchise is fun to play. Each map has a special twist on the rules, such as not being able to buy uranium on the North Korean market, and you can only buy from the North or South market each turn (not both).
How did you come to this conclusion? It's... completely disconnected from reality.
If I go to boardgamegeek.com and look at the "the hotness" sidebar, there are 15 games (of which two, Gloomhaven and Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, would appear to be closely related).
In descending order of "occult flavor":
1. Arkham Horror: The Card Game
2. Spirit Island (in which you play as pagan deities trying to repel the forces of civilization)
3. Gloomhaven (perfectly ordinary dungeon crawler, as far as I see)
4. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion
5. Lost Ruins of Arnak (makes some reference to "fearsome guardians" associated with the remnants of a lost civilization)
At this point, there is zero "occult flavor" associated with any of the 10 remaining games. So, in the order listed on the site:
6. Pendulum - "Players command their workers, execute stratagems, and expand the provinces in their domain in real time to gain resources and move up the four victory tracks: power, prestige, popularity, and legendary achievement."
7. Dead Reckoning - "is a game of exploration, piracy, and influence based in a Caribbean-esque setting. Each player commands a ship and crew and seeks to amass the greatest fortune."
8. Imperial Struggle - "is a two-player game depicting the 18th-century rivalry between France and Britain. It begins in 1697, as the two realms wait warily for the King of Spain to name an heir, and ends in 1789, when a new order brought down the Bastille."
9. Terraforming Mars - "Giant corporations, sponsored by the World Government on Earth, initiate huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until the environment is habitable. In Terraforming Mars, you play one of those corporations and work together in the terraforming process, but compete for getting victory points that are awarded not only for your contribution to the terraforming, but also for advancing human infrastructure throughout the solar system, and doing other commendable things."
10. Godzilla: Tokyo Clash - "you play as the Earth's most fearsome Kaiju — Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Megalon — battling for dominance as the most terrifying monster in Japan."
11. Wingspan - "You are bird enthusiasts—researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, and collectors—seeking to discover and attract the best birds to your network of wildlife preserves."
12. Maracaibo - "is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The players try to increase their influence in three nations in four rounds with a play time of 40 minutes per player."
13. Brass: Birmingham - "tells the story of competing entrepreneurs in Birmingham during the industrial revolution, between the years of 1770-1870. As in its predecessor, you must develop, build, and establish your industries and network, in an effort to exploit low or high market demands."
14. Everdell - "the time has come for new territories to be settled and new cities established. You will be the leader of a group of critters [forest wildlife] intent on just such a task. There are buildings to construct, lively characters to meet, events to host—you have a busy year ahead of yourself. Will the sun shine brightest on your city before the winter moon rises?"
15. Root - "The nefarious Marquise de Cat has seized the great woodland, intent on harvesting its riches. Under her rule, the many creatures of the forest have banded together. This Alliance will seek to strengthen its resources and subvert the rule of Cats."
Gloomhaven is full of demons and Lovecraftian monsters to fight, by the way, and the player characters use summons and dark magic. Great game; we’re on roughly our 40th play session tomorrow!
Admittedly "occult" is a bit vague. Does it refer to everything with a fantasy or supernatural theme? Then it's undeniable that it's a popular theme for games. Fantasy, magic, horror, superheroes; there's plenty there that sparks the imagination of gamers and game designers, and if that's a theme someone dislikes or objects to, then that's a pretty big chunk they're losing out on.
Still, there are indeed a lot of games that don't touch on any of those topics at all. Shop around a bit, look into different kind of games.
Or use BBG's advanced search[0] to filter out all the themes you don't like[1]. (In this search, I filtered out everything fantasy, horror, religious or mythological.)
[0] https://boardgamegeek.com/advsearch/boardgame [1] https://boardgamegeek.com/search/boardgame?sort=rank&advsear...
I would take a look at the list of family games instead.
https://boardgamegeek.com/familygames/browse/boardgame?sort=...
OP, I would just go on BoardGameGeek and browse through the top-rated games. Just looking at a game's page should be enough to tell you if the content is acceptable.
My personal observations about BSG:
As a traitor-mechanic game it suffers severely if the traitor doesn't know how to play well or if someone gets bored and isn't paying attention.
Again in particular with coop-with-traitor-mechanic games, it is very vulnerable to loud alpha-gamer quarterbacking ("Hey! Everyone needs to support this plan because it's clearly The Best Plan, and if you don't you're clearly the traitor because you're playing sub-optimally.")
It takes a long time, 2 hours minimum and I've been subjected to 4 hour games.
Put simply, it is generally not fun for a rookie gamer.
Recommendation:If this game of cooperative play with traitor mechanic sounds interesting to you, I recommend the game "The Resistance: Avalon", which has similar mechanics but plays in 20 minutes optimally and 50 minutes for a slow game. Compare with 120 minutes to 240 minutes in my experience for BSG.
Disclaimer:I've played BSG twice (same group), I've hated it twice, and I refuse to play it anymore. I do not consider myself a rookie, and I personally prefer shorter (120 minutes or less), simpler games.