Board Game Arena

Not seeing a list of rules specific to these forums I'd break for asking this question, so hey...

I'm the type of person who avoided board games for a long time because of Monopoly. Thought they'd all be boring. Now that I've tried out games like Hive, Santorini, and Azul, I realize that's not the case. I love when a game is "simple and deep", where I can learn the basics quickly and then keep trying to improve at it.

Battle of Lits is the game I always mention in that case. Rules are very, very easy, game plays fast, but if you want to get really good at it, you might need quite some games. I know I did, but maybe I'm just slow :p . Anyway, I find the game interesting enough, even after more than 1000 games played now.

Other games I really enjoy that don't have difficult rules, but still have enough depth, are Butterfly, Automobiles, Space Base, Insert, China Gold, Nicodemus. There's more, but I don't want to give you too much of a hard time to pick games .

You'd likely enjoy Railroad Ink. If you are not too afraid of a bit more rules at the start, 7Wonders is not too hard and has quite a learning curve.
Two small hidden gems with very easy rules: Gorami and Mammalath.

On less abstract but deeper, I would advise hanabi.
Contrary to games like chess where when you analyse, you goes one move later, in hanabi, you can totally rework the global strategy instead.

I am not quite sure what you mean by non-abstract games. I personally consider Hive, Santorini, and Azul to be quite abstract!

So I will just make some suggestions for "simple and deep" games, which don‘t look fully abstract.

Considering the games you mentioned, you will probably like:
Kahuna
Taluva
Patchwork

And (also possible as solo games):
Bandido
Panic Lab

Deduction:
13 clues
Mr. Jack

Card games with team play:
Coinche
Tichu

Cooperative:
The Crew
The Crew Deep sea
Concept
Similo

I would recommend the following mostly as 2-player games. With more players they might be too random for you:
Carcassonne
Splendor
CuBirds
Lucky numbers
Kingdom Builder
Loco Momo

So go and try the different tastes BGA offers to you

Here are the ones I've checked out so far:

7 Wonders and Railroad Ink both perplex me because they give me the feeling that I'm not really playing against an opponent and instead they just happen to be playing at the same time. To be fair, only played the tutorial for both of these. Maybe I'd "get it" with a couple real plays.

Mr Jack is another one where I played only the tutorial. Feels like a bit to wrap my head around, but I like the idea of it.

CuBirds is surprisingly nice, perhaps a bit too simple but it's pretty fun.

I do agree that Kahuna, Taluva, and Patchwork look like three I'd love. The first two, though, I'll admit to being shallow and looking at the player numbers, afraid that if I fell in love with them, I wouldn't be able to find games too easily. Those numbers may be deceiving, though.

Res Arcana doesn't have a tutorial, so I'll have to find someone patient enough to deal with a newbie, but I'm hoping that one will satisfy the craving for some kind of deckbuild-y game like Magic -- or more accurately, like Codex, which is a game that's intrigued me for a long time and isn't on BGA.

You're not being particularly clear. By stating non-abstract games and then using Hive and Santorini as examples of games you like...
Also simple and deep normally describes most abstract games. Sounds like you're making your own life difficult.

Games that have particularly tickled my fancy that might meet your criteria: PI, NXS, Red7 and Number drop.
But yes, if you're playing real-time you might struggle to find players.

Res Arcana is easy to pick-up, it's just a maths puzzle to solve. 1st to 10VP. Very little interaction.

I thought it was clear enough: I prefer abstract games, and was trying to find non-abstract games I might enjoy based on that. Basically, something more game-y and less "You are a spice trader in 15th century Europe" kind of thing.

Tiny Towns looks amazing for this, too, sadly it's not (yet?) on BGA.

I'm not actually sure why I've avoided Red7, I guess the idea of the rules changing scared me away but I've not even tried it. Could be fun.

And when you say Res Arcana is essentially a math puzzle, does that mean there's not much interaction with the other player(s)?

Yes, surprising little interaction in Res Arcana, just the choice of table cards. But I've mainly played 2 players. But at least it is a brain burner with all the calculations.
In a similar vein might be Race For The Galaxy. It might not quite be the brain burner, but tactics wise and game length it really hits the spot. I would recommended this above Res Arcana. It's like a whole game of Puerto Rico in 5 minutes.

Another one I forgot: The Battle for Hill 218.

As previously stated, in you haven't tried Hanabi before, then it's definitely worth a try and there should be enough players. Play with people your own strength (even better with real friends) for maximum ooh-aahh moments.

Hello blossom-,

thank you for your feedback! (I like to help people to find games which fit to them, but seldom get an answer. So I appreciate it!)

blossom- wrote: ↑28 April 2022, 10:48 7 Wonders and Railroad Ink both perplex me because they give me the feeling that I'm not really playing against an opponent and instead they just happen to be playing at the same time.

I agree that Railroad Ink is pretty solitaire (which can even be played in solo mode), but 7 Wonders much less. In this game it is rather important to observe your opponents development and there is special interaction with the players „sitting“ by both of your sides.

blossom- wrote: ↑28 April 2022, 10:48 I do agree that Kahuna, Taluva, and Patchwork look like three I'd love. The first two, though, I'll admit to being shallow and looking at the player numbers, afraid that if I fell in love with them, I wouldn't be able to find games too easily.

I think you might underestimate those games. Especially Kahuna I found very simple according to the rules, but hard to master! Now I checked this and found more than 100 games actually in play: https://boardgamearena.com/gameinprogress?game=5&all For Taluva there are about 50 now: https://boardgamearena.com/gameinprogress?game=1123&all You might ask any of these players to join with you

blossom- wrote: ↑28 April 2022, 10:48 Res Arcana doesn't have a tutorial, so I'll have to find someone patient enough to deal with a newbie, but I'm hoping that one will satisfy the craving for some kind of deckbuild-y game like Magic -- or more accurately, like Codex, which is a game that's intrigued me for a long time and isn't on BGA.

Res Arcana doesn't have a tutorial, but you can watch a video to learn the game (as also most of the others). Go to the games page, https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=resarcana click on „show more“ at the right side and find links to videos and rules

You can also ask in the group of Game Tutors https://boardgamearena.com/group?id=1111129 for help.

I know and like Magic, too (but don't know Codex). As deckbuilding games on BGA I can also recommend Little Factory, Space Base, Race for the Galaxy, 7 Wonders Duel (definitely more interaction than 7 Wonders!), Seasons and Lost ruins of Arnak (listed with increasing complexity).