When I first dipped my toes into modern board gaming there weren’t too many options to choose from. Settlers of Catan was the big one, but finding other board games was surprisingly a lot harder to do.
Board games weren’t released as frequently as they are now, and only those that truly offered a great experience were talked about and sold.
They were truly simpler times. Agricola was not only the number one board game on Board Game Geek but also considered a heavy board game. Compared to some of the games of today, like Cerebria: The Inside World, Agricola is a walk in the park to learn and play.
Now I’ve already talked about it a few times, but my introduction to modern board gaming probably started with Cranium. Within my group, this game is lovingly referred to as Trivial Pursuit on drugs. Because it maintains the trivia component, it also adds a lot of other creative minigames.
Cranium tapped into my nostalgia, as growing up my brother and I would occasionally play Trivial Pursuit. But being as young as we were, it started as trivia and devolved into a test of strength as we physically fought over the final plastic pieces.
After Cranium, my housemate introduced me and my friends to Munchkin. This was fun for a few games but quickly wore out its welcome when games took over two hours to complete. To its credit though, it inspired me to buy Settlers of Catan when we went to Supanova – an Australian-based pop culture convention.
That’s when I started to get the board game itch.
From there, I’ve continued to seek out new games and experiences within the world of board games. However, this poll isn’t about me, it’s about you!
I’ve selected four of the most common gateways to modern board games. Starting with…
Settlers of Catan
For many, including myself, Settlers of Catan represents a paradigm shift in how you play board games. Compared to Monopoly, Candy Land, or Trouble where most of the game revolves around rolling a die and moving. Settlers of Catan offered so many new opportunities to think and strategise.
While most games offer this kind of thinking today, back in 1995, when Settlers of Catan was released, this was revolutionary. Especially, for newcomers to the board game hobby.
Despite these innovations in mainstream game design. Settlers of Catan remained simple to pick up and learn how to play. Resulting in the game rocketing into the limelight and board game history books.
These days, Settlers of Catan is still a dominant force within the hobby that’s stretched well into the mainstream of pop culture. With over 32 million units sold, it was also featured on The Big Bang Theory, with a classic joke about trading sheep for wood.
Munchkin
Given the surplus of new games and mechanisms within board gaming, it’s surprising that Munchkin still has such a hold on the industry. Released in 2001, this card game has 100 different versions and over 180 different expansions.
This must be part of how Munchkin retains its popularity. Because despite its rudimentary gameplay, you can always find a version that you want to play based on another IP or franchise.
Some of these include Munchkin Marvel, Munchkin Mission Impossible, Munchkin Harry Potter Deluxe, and even Munchkin Mars Attacks. That’s just scratching the surface, but the Munchkin universe is long and full of wonder.
Another appeal of the Munchkin franchise is its tongue-in-cheek humour as it takes on RPG stereotypes. Gameplay aside, players coming from a D&D background always get a lot of enjoyment out of the artwork and descriptions.
Ticket to Ride
Why Ticket to Ride is so popular is a bit of an anomaly. Released in 2004, there’s no reason for it to have taken off the way that it did. It didn’t have the backing of pop culture references like Munchkin, and didn’t revolutionise board games like Settlers of Catan.
What it had instead was mass appeal.
No matter if it’s your first time playing a board game, or if you’ve been in the hobby since its inception, you’ll have a good time playing Ticket to Ride. As it acts as a bridge between gaps in the board gaming experience.
There’s a lot of power in that for a board game. Especially in the early 2000s when the hobby was just about to gain steam. I mean that both figuratively, and literally as Steam was released in 2009 – excellent game but not a great introduction to modern board games.
Wingspan
Released in 2019, Wingspan has taken the board gaming world by storm. Like Settlers of Catan above, it does a fantastic job of showcasing what modern board games can do. Except it’s updated to modern standards and design, while Settlers of Catan is stuck in past.
Its approachability is helped by its delightful theme of creating a bird sanctuary, as well as Stonermaier Games’ outstanding production.
So although Wingspan is the newest game out of the four I’ve selected. More and more players are being introduced to modern board games by collecting birds and eggs.
If you’ve been through this list and still haven’t found the game that started you on your journey within the hobby. Then you need to let me know in the comments below. I’d love to know how it all began for you.
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David, I will have to take a look at Le Havre online! I appreciate that reference!
I think that Anachrony and Perseverance are pretty close in complexity although adding in the final expansions including Fractures of Time upps the score on that for Anachrony. CoB is a classic, for a reason — but it is easier to learn how to play; playing well can be a bit more of a challenge. 😉
Dave, fun poll and thoughts. I know this makes me sound VERY old, but I started with board games probably around 1976 or so? Although if you count Monopoly and Risk which I would not consider the parents of modern board games, I was playing those even earlier than that.
I consider my first genuine tabletop games to be Avalon Hill war games such as Afrika Corps, France 1940, and later on, Russian Campaign, Squad Leader, and others. They were wonderful to play and taught me a lot about history, which is one of the major benefits of playing war games, I think. Then there was a pause, and later on I got involved in Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, and also a spate of terrific card games including Magic, Warlord, Legend of the Five Rings, and others. All of those led me to more modern games. I can’t recall which of the modern games I first picked up on, but Ticket to Ride, Agricola, Le Havre, Caylus, and other such as Ra, led me to where I am today. The advance and growth of modern games has truly been amazing to watch.
This reminded me of my Magic the Gathering phase that I had during junior school. None of the other junior school kids were into it, so me and another friend went up into the highschool every lunch time. Do you still own any of: Ticket to Ride, Agricola, Le Havre, Caylus, or Ra? Or have you found your tastes changed since then?
David, I’ve kept some of the older entry games, mostly for my grandkids (hoping), and also to use to introduce to people who are not aware of the modern game environment. We still have TTR USA (with 1910 expansion); we also have Märklin which may be our favorite, and the Asia expansion. That gives enough variety, I think to be able to share with many others. I have Agricola, Caylus, and Ra on my iPad, and am working to get more people to play with me online. 😉 I sold my old version of Ra because I had trouble getting people to play it, and I very nearly backed the deluxe upgraded version (I keep thinking about still finding a copy). I don’t think Le Havre is available digitally? So, I have stuck with many of those original, older games for those reasons, plus I still enjoy them. I have also upgraded Wingspan components and added expansions — I think Oceania REALLY makes the game even better. Many people love to play Wingspan after I introduce them to it. I know you’ve written about Ethnos vs. Archeos Society — I have had tremendously good luck/opportunities to intro people to modern games using Ethnos. All of this said, I really do love my crunchy games — Voidfall is my current brain burner; amazing game! I also really love to play Perseverance, Anachrony, and the deluxe version of Castles of Burgundy has knocked my socks off! Pest also just arrived, and I really want to get it to the table.
I have good news for you Anton, Le Harve is available digitally. At least on the google store.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I think the only game I have from my early days is Carcassone. Everything else has been replaced or removed :(.
Absolutely agree about Wingspan’s Oceania expansion, makes it a lot easier to fill your board with birds and removes the need to get so many eggs. It’s a great expansion. I got to play Wyrmspan last week, and I need to play it more, but first impressions are good. Might even take the crown from Oceania 😮
Also had a chuckle to see Perseverance, Anachrony and Castles of Burgundy in the same sentence. They seem to be on very different complexity levels.
Finally, I hadn’t heard of Pest, but I looked it up and it seems cool. Thanks for the tip off again!