Code Names: .  In Codenames, 25 cards are placed on a 5 x 5 layout.  Two teams compete to see who can guess which cards are theirs before the other team can guess their cards.  Wordmasters try to give one-word clues that can point to multiple cards on the board. Their teammates try to guess which cards belong to their team based on the words given them while avoiding those that belong to the opposing team. And everyone wants to avoid the assassin. The popular game has reached the 17th (out of more than 84000) position in the BoardGameGeek ranking of games of all time and has been published in 28 languages.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/74639/codenames/codenames-official-rules-video

Ticket to Ride: A popular game available in Walmart and Target and considered a ‘gateway’ game.  Gateway games are a step above Monopoly and Life in strategy and mechanics, simple enough to be taught in a few minutes.

Players (2-5) collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes in North America. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfill Destination Tickets – goal cards that connect distant cities; and to the player who builds the longest continuous route.

Each turn you either draw more cards, claim a route, or get additional Destination Tickets.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/1048/ticket-ride/ufbrt-ticket-ride-episode-zero

Settlers of Catan (2-6 players) is our next gateway game and has been featured on ‘Big Bang Theory’.  The board is created from 16 ‘hexagons’ meaning the board is a different configuration for each game, guaranteeing that no two games are alike. Players build settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn dice are rolled to determine what resources (wood, grain, brick, sheep, or stone) to build settlements, roads and cities.  Get to 10 victory points and win the game.

A key component is trading goods with other players that advance yours and their city and road networks.  I recommend you view the playing instructions and then view the big bang episode.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/594/catan/video-review-settlers-catan

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/13882/catan/settlers-catan-meets-sheldon-big-bang-theory

Splendor is a terrific game for 2-4 people, played in 30-40 minutes maximum.  Containing high quality, nice components, it is also considered a ‘gateway’ game.

Players are merchants of the Renaissance trying to buy different gems to gain ‘prestige points’.  Certain gems are worth 1 to 5 points and 15 points wins the game.

On your turn, you may perform one of three actions (1) collect tokens (gems), or (2) buy and build a card, or (3) reserve one card.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/44087/splendor/dice-tower-reviews-splendor

Kingsburg will feel like Catan where you are using 3 different resources (gold, wood, stone) to build up your city.

Resources are gained by die rolls.  Each ‘year’ there are three turns to construct buildings to build out your city using the resources gained.  Building are worth various points and grant the player certain advantages.  At the end of five ‘years’, the winner is the person with the most points.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/23156/kingsburg/dice-tower-reviews-kingsburg

Pandemic, is a collaborative game where player work together as a team; you all win or all lose!  Several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! The players (up to 5) are disease-fighting specialists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand.  Taking a unique role within the team, players must plan their strategy to mesh with their specialists’ strengths in order to conquer the diseases.  If one or more diseases spreads beyond recovery or if too much time elapses, the players all lose. If they cure the four diseases, they all win!  (hazard suits not included!)

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/14303/pandemic/starlit-citadel-reviews-pandemic

Railways of the World is the next natural step from Ticket to Ride.  A game for up to 6 people and has 4 different maps.  No dice are used in this game, you control your own destiny!

This is a particularly interesting game to ‘train’ your grandchildren how to plan ahead and manage debt.  Build your budding railroad network into a vast empire. Connect New York to Chicago, earn the most money, develop bigger and faster locomotives and maybe even span North America and build the Transcontinental Railway!

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/8638/railways-world/railways-world-quick-overview

Power Grid is a well-balanced game with a unique play sequence to prevent anyone from running away with the game.  A Top 10 Game on Board Game Geeks, this is our first ‘European Game’ which is a design style from across the pond and was originally played with paper and crayons!

There are over a dozen unique boards of different countries which will contribute to re-learning geography.   The objective is to supply power to the most cities by purchasing power plants and upgrading them as newer, more efficient plants become available.  Additionally, players must acquire the raw materials (coal, oil, garbage, and uranium) needed to power said plants (except for the ‘renewable’ windfarm/ solar plants, which require no fuel), making it a constant struggle to upgrade your plants for maximum efficiency while still retaining enough wealth to quickly expand your network to get the cheapest routes.  Another great game for teaching money management.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/7534/power-grid/dice-tower-reviews-power-grid

In Terraforming Mars, you represent a corporation competing for huge projects to raise the temperature, the oxygen level, and the ocean coverage until Mars is habitable.  The players acquire unique project cards (from over two hundred different ones) by buying them to their hand. The cards can give you immediate bonuses, as well as increasing your production of different resources. Many cards also have requirements and they become playable when the temperature, oxygen, or ocean coverage increases enough.

https://boardgamegeek.com/video/108772/terraforming-mars/every-game-awesome-36-terraforming-mars