10 Gateway Games To Get You (or Your Friends) Into Board Games

There’s no doubting the table presence of War of the Ring or the beauty of Scythe’s incredible miniatures. But present one of these to your usual group of friends and you’re likely to be met with glazed expressions. They’re generally too complex for novice board gamers.

Thankfully, there are thousands of modern board games to choose from, including a vast number of gateway games: games that are basic enough for anybody to get to grips with and that will, hopefully, convert your mates to board game-loving geeks. Below are 10 quintessential gateway board games for different player counts and covering most gaming mechanics.

1. Settlers of Catan

Settlers of Catan is considered by many to be the first of the modern generation of board games and is played by three or four people. It combines dice rolling and resource management with some basic trading. A modular board allows for variable setup, and the rules are easy to understand. But the dice rolling does lead to more than a smattering of luck, which puts some players off, and it needs a minimum of three players, so isn’t a good choice for couples. Tens of millions of copies of Catan have been sold worldwide, which means you probably already know somebody who has one.

2. Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a tile placement, point-scoring game for two to five players. Launched in 2000, Carcassonne is a multi-award-winning game that is deserving of the accolades. Its popularity has led to more than ten expansions that introduce extra elements and game mechanics. As well as being ideal for beginners, Carcassonne remains popular even with experienced board gamers because it is quick to play and offers a lot of options and decisions.

3. Ticket To Ride

Ticket To Ride tasks two to five players with connecting train stations to create point-scoring routes. It is an open-drafting, hand-management game that can be learned in a few minutes. While it launched later than Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne it was the title that got me into board gaming and the one that I use to drag others into the hobby. Publishers Days of Wonder have eschewed the whole expansion market, there are nearly as many Ticket to Ride variants as there are versions of Monopoly, but each one does offer a slightly different map or add a different game mechanic.

4. Dominion

Generally regarded as the first deck-building game, Dominion is a two to four-player game that has a staggering number of cards in the box. You only really use a small handful of different card types in each game, which means there is a lot of replayability and variance in games. It also means you can start with basic rules using easy cards before progressing to something more advanced.

5. Pandemic

Cooperative games are a favorite in our house and Pandemic is one of the ones that started the phenomenon. 2 to 4 players work together to stop outspreads and find cures for pandemics around the world. Players take on different roles and have to work together to win. Several variants of Pandemic have launched since the original hit shelves in 2008, including a popular legacy version.

6. 7 Wonders

7 Wonders is a card drafting game that takes the early work of Dominion and, in some ways, improves on it. In the original, three to seven players take cards and play them to develop resources and use them to build structures like markets, while developing a military power. The game is quick, the setup is easy, and it is arguably a more fun drafting game than Dominion.  

7. Lords of Waterdeep

Technically, Lords of Waterdeep takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons world, but you really don’t need any prior experience with the tabletop role-playing game. Lords of Waterdeep is a worker placement game for two to five players, in which players take on the role of secret rulers of the city of Waterdeep, recruiting adventurers and sending them out to complete adventures.

8. King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo is a thematic or story-driven game, which is one of the easiest mechanics to teach. They are also the most likely to drag players in, thanks to their levels of immersion. King of Tokyo, which can be played by two to six people, does have some dice rolling and card drafting elements, though, which will keep more experienced players busy, too.

9. Colt Express

Colt Express is an action queue game for two to six players. In it, players play up to five action cards in a pile. Only when all players have played their cards are the actions taken, one at a time. This means that one person’s action can directly impact another player’s later action. The rules are simple but the strategy can be challenging. Colt Express’s board is worth mentioning as it is a three-dimensional Colt Express train that looks great on the table.

10. Love letter

Love Letter is a simple deduction game for two to four players. Each player attempts to have their letter delivered to Princess Annette while stopping others from delivering their letters. Love Letter does include player elimination, which is rare in modern games, but it can be a lot of fun to eliminate friends and family.