Family / Teen Board Games

[Perfectpeonies]

Looking for recommendations for a really good, quick to get into board games. Suitable 12+

we have trivial pursuit, monopoly, articulate. Also enjoy exploding kittens and the like.

We (family with teens aged 13 and 15) like Ticket to Ride, Catan, Dominion and Carcassone.

Are they easy to get into? They have a very short attention span so it needs to hook them quickly else they soon disperse!

Ticket to Ride and The London Game here.

Herd Mentality
Poetry for Neanderthals

would fit this bill

The Chameleon
Brilliant game.

Most games are suitable for 12+

I'd deff start with things like pandemic, catan, sushi go and munchkins (I prefer the 40k version). hogwarts battle may be good if they like Harry potter.

Carcassone is very quick to learn - simple rules

Agree carcassonne would be my choice too really easy to learn, can be played quite gently but can also be brutally competitive (the expansion inn's and cathedral's is brilliant.

Catan is good, but if you are newbies get/play Machi Koro here first. Its quick, quicker to learn and gets you used to the importance of knowing which dice rolls are more/less common

The Fame Game
Outsmarted

Cards again humanity, probably most would say they're too young but they do less adult versions like cards against disney

Our favourites:
Labyrinth
Rummikub (not so much for 10yo)
Family fortunes is a surprise hit and requested very often
Cluedo
Exploding kittens is good for a quick game, as is Monopoly Deal

Ticket to Ride.
Easy to learn, takes about an hour which is just about right for a family board game. We've been playing it since DC were about 12 and they still play at Christmas now in mid 20s.

Another vote for Sushi Go.

Bananagrams

Rat a tat cat is aimed at younger children, but it is very addictive for all ages.

Ticket to Ride, Catan, Carcassonne, Pandemic as said above.
Also Wingspan and 7 Wonders. There is a two player Duel version of 7 Wonders.

The Logo Game.

I'm not much of a board game player, but these are ones my family enjoys:

• Isle of Skye
• Codenames
• Tsuro
• Castle Panic (co-operative, so less fighting!)

And agree with

• Labyrinth
• Chameleon
• Pandemic
• Ticket to Ride

Outsmarted is brilliant.

Ever tried teaching seven wonders to those with limited gaming experience? It isn't the easiest game to teach or learn. Sushi go makes a much better starter option to learn the mechanics (and tbh unless you get into the leaders expansion I'm not sure 7 wonders is actually worth the effort)

I love wingspan. But it is another one not easy to teach, especially to newer board gamers

Bears vs babies
uno flip
qwirkle
blockus

Talisman

Bears Vs Babies

Scotland Yard

Yes, 7 Wonders and Wingspan are harder. My ten year old plays both happily, DH can't figure out where to put the cubes in Wingspan, and Carcassonne farmers defeat me.
7 Wonders Duel is easier (for me to get beaten at).
Another quicker to learn cooperative one is Forbidden Island.

King of Tokyo is good too

Another vote for Carcassonne. Code names, ticket. To ride and sushi go also not bad shouts.
We like Catan and Pandemic but IMHO both are quite long to play and I wouldn’t say they are super easy to get into for beginners.

We love a board game and have lots, some that have been mentioned are definitely not for those with short attention span like Catan, pandemic or wingspan (even though I enjoy them all).
Ticket to Ride is good and really easy to understand, as is Carcassonne (scoring at the end always confuses me but you only need 1 person to understand that!).
Other smaller card games we like that are easy are Dutch Blitz, Monopoly Go, Point Salad, No Thanks, Sushi Go.
board game geek is a good website for reviews and user based age ratings.

I think a couple of the recommendations are a bit young for teens like bears Vs Babies.

Anomia is a very simple fun card game that is easy to play.

Betrayal at House on the Hill is quite a good one for teens as it's got a spooky element and isn't too tricky.

Azul is nice if you want something quite meditative and pretty.