Quote Originally Posted by Edmond Dantes View Post
Wait, really? Cuz I kinda kept thinking board games used to be the thing before video games took over, though the more complicated stuff tended to only have nerd appeal. I was unaware there had been any kind of resurgence.
Oh yes - BIG time. While I get that you might look at Catan and think that it has a "Risk-like" play, it's not - not at all. Big differences: it is over in < 2 hours, everyone stays in the game until the end, it's generally competitive up until the end, there isn't as much of a "start position" bias and the gameboard tends to have advantage evenly distributed. It is worth checking out - it is not that complicated and it is very fun, even for people who don't like to do math. There is a light social aspect of trading with other players, too, which even extroverts can enjoy.

Catan's rise to prominence throughout the late 1990s in Europe, and in the early 2000s here in the U.S., has spawned a big interest in new board games. There are hundreds being released every year, and there is definitely a heavy foam of cream that rises to the top - the best ones each year are really, really good and fun. It's gotten big enough and creative enough that there are evolving defined sub-genres ("deck-builders", "press-your-luck") the same way that there are video games ("platformer", "shmup", etc.). Some of the games are definitely too complicated, but others are hugely fun. My personal favorite is the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, kind of a light RPG-like game where each character has a deck of cards (weapons, spells, etc.) and you trawl through decks filled with challenges to get treasure, defeat monsters, etc.

So...don't think there's a range where you have Chutes & Ladders on one hand and Avalon Hill's super-calculation-intensive wargames on the other. There is a wide range out there, my friend. I would start with Catan - it is a classic for a good reason, and you and your friends will be hooked for sure.