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It’s very easy to sometimes get a little too enthusiastic when your non-gamer friends invite you over to… play a game! With so many good games in your collection, it feels like an important task that you’d like to find that one perfect gateway game for them. You’ll be responsible for the introduction of how amazing board games are nowadays! The pressure! And it’s way too easy to go a little overboard on this. 😉

Last week we ended up only playing our Kickstarter copy of Heroes of Tenefyr, which we received a couple of weeks ago. The designer Pepijn is somebody I’ve known for a long long time but we hadn’t seen each other for about ten years and we were surprised to see him at the UKGE last year! If you’re thinking… I know that name somehow: he also commissioned a sponsored comic last year! Heroes of Tenefyr is a cool co-op deck building game with a fun push-your-luck element. If you’re interested, CoolstuffInc.com had a few copies for sale.

We’re both busy wrapping things up for the UK Games Expo, where we’ll be from Thursday night to Sunday. I feel like I’ve been playing very very little games lately and I’m looking forward to just being among board games for a long weekend. 😀 Heinze and I will also be guests on NoPunIncluded’s Board Game Show on Saturday starting at 4 pm. We’ll be playing Victorian Parlour Games as far as I heard!

This weekend also is the official date for International Tabletop Day and we got some questions regarding the achievement badges we’ve been making the last years. Because of the late announcement of the ITTD and the fact that it’s on the same date as the UKGE, we’ve decided not to make any new badges for 2019. There was too much chaos surrounding the date and gaming events were organized on the old date in April and in June. Hopefully next year things will have quieted down and the communication will be better. For now, you can always use the badges we’ve made for ITTD 2018. Sorry to disappoint if you were hoping for new/more badges, we would love to make new ones for 2020. 🙂

What’s your favorite gateway game?”

This is hilarious! Trivial Pursuit,,,, (shudder).
I find it’s vital for gateway games to be simple and also have quick turns (very little downtime).
The classic Ticket To Ride is excellent for this. I traded my copy away because I’m actually not fond of the game (not meaning it’s bad or I won’t play it, but meaning if I am playing with gamers, there’s many games I’d rather play.) It worked excellently as a gateway for several of my friends.
BANG! The Dice Game, curiously, also worked well, despite the player elimination. It’s such a short and quick-moving game that the eliminated players did not mind. Several non-gamers I played this with promptly purchased the game. (Note: This is the dice game, note the card game, which is longer and more complicated.)

Choosing the right gateway game is so hard! I like to get a feel for the person/group first, but most of the time they are always like “dunno, anything”.

I’ve had success with Alhambra, Sushi Go, King of Tokyo, and Mysterium. One of my favorite things to do after a successful gateway game, is to move onto a game that’s similar but a bit deeper. For example, if they enjoyed the drafting of Sushi Go, I have 7 Wonders or Citadels ready, with Seasons on the horizon.

Legit depends on the group. If they have an interest in a certain thing, I will sometimes find games themed to it. Otherwise, go-tos include Love Letter and similar games where the rules aren’t that intimidating and everything is pretty much printed on the cards. Basically, party type games.

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