Relatively simple board games that you like

[Trond]

In Northern Europe, the game known as The Missing Diamond (Den Forsvunne Diamanten/Afrikan tähti) is quite popular, and also actually quite fun, although the scope of strategy is limited. It's basically a game you pull out when you're not going to use too much brain power.



So, what's your favorite simple board game?

[HappyDaze]

Not sure if you consider it simple enough, but I bought Zombicide 2e this summer and have had a blast chucking dice and killing zombies.

[Trond]

Not sure if you consider it simple enough, but I bought Zombicide 2e this summer and have had a blast chucking dice and killing zombies.

Not sure either. Looks fun though!

[rytrasmi]

Survive! is a very fun game that has survived the coming and going of numerous board games in our household. It's one of our top 5 of all time. It's easy to learn and has lots of different strategies and a healthy amount of luck. Some hilarious moments and tears, too!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2653/survive-escape-atlantis

[Trond]

Survive! is a very fun game that has survived the coming and going of numerous board games in our household. It's one of our top 5 of all time. It's easy to learn and has lots of different strategies and a healthy amount of luck. Some hilarious moments and tears, too!
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2653/survive-escape-atlantis

Is that the one where Atlantis is slowly disappearing piece by piece? I remember my friends and I had fun with that when we were kids.

[rytrasmi]

Yep, that's the one. I also played it as a kid. Returning to is as an adult, I realized how clever the design is and how a lot of different strategies are possible.

[Trond]

Interesting. I think the edition we had was a bit different from what I see online. More 3D topography or something. Of course this was in Norway decades ago.

[Zelen]

Dixit is more of a card game than board game, but honestly a great family-friendly game. Rules light but surprisingly deep.

[oggsmash]

Not sure if you consider it simple enough, but I bought Zombicide 2e this summer and have had a blast chucking dice and killing zombies.

  Yeah I do not know where the line for simple is, and I have all the main games for zombicide 1e(the modern, fantasy, and the futuristic versions) and I agree they are a lot of fun. 

[Oddend]

Hive is really fun. Each game is pretty short, which gives you a chance to try more than one strategy in one sitting. We only have the base game, and it doesn't feel lacking.

Roll-and-draw games are pretty fun too; they're almost like Tetris combined with Scrabble. We have Railroad Ink; Steve Jackson games publishes a dungeon-crawl-themed one that looked like fun, though the reviews I watched generally preferred Railroad Ink between the two.

Now that I think about it, the game we've played the most, and had the most fun playing, is Sushi-Go-Party. I didn't expect to enjoy it, because it involves a shuffled deck of cards, but it's very well designed (i.e. you do have to use your brain to win). We have the big box version, and I'd recommend it over the original. Both are good (the original is just a subset), but the big box has more deck options, and they're worth it.

For reference, our gaming group is me, my wife, and our seven year old girl. She's enjoyed all three games, but Sushi-Go-Party is definitely her favorite.

[Spinachcat]

I highly recommend CHAOSMOS
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/142830/chaosmos

The Universe is ending. Whichever race is holding the Ovoid when the old Universe ends is able to continue onward in the newly born Universe. You are the hero of your species and while the mechanics are easy, holding onto the Ovoid is quite difficult and requires great cunning.

[Trond]

I highly recommend CHAOSMOS
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/142830/chaosmos

The Universe is ending. Whichever race is holding the Ovoid when the old Universe ends is able to continue onward in the newly born Universe. You are the hero of your species and while the mechanics are easy, holding onto the Ovoid is quite difficult and requires great cunning.

Wow, looks interesting! Is it simple though?

[Reckall]

Dixit is more of a card game than board game, but honestly a great family-friendly game. Rules light but surprisingly deep.

+1 for Dixit. It is our game to go when we have big gatherings, eat like pigs, drink and get stoned, and then we play this game of intense deduction and creativity - enjoying it even more.

There is another game called "Mysterium" which is basically a cross between Dixit and Clue. It looks exciting but, of course, I bought it right on the eve of the Covid pandemic...

[rgalex]

Tokaido is a pretty fun game and it's relatively simple.  There are both physical versions and video game versions of it.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/123540/tokaido

The basic premise is that you are on a pilgrimage and trying to have the most fulfilling experience along the way.  There are no dice to roll.  It's more strategy based with every character having a special unique bonus and locations limiting the total number of players that can be on it at a time. Once you pass a spot you can't go back.  Their are reasons to speed ahead of everyone (limited quantities of things or bonuses for being 1st) and reasons to lag behind (last person in line is the active player and can take any number of turns until they aren't last anymore).

Once everyone reaches the end of the trail you total up points based on the accumulated experiences and highest total wins.  A typical game lasts about an hour.

There are a few expansions that add new/more experiences or a couple new rules, but the base game is playable as is and you could get hours and hours of play w/o ever adding the expansions.

[HappyDaze]

Horrified is pretty simple (but not easy), and quite thematic for Halloween too.