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Where to Start: Easy Board Games Norman Recommends

Easy to teach, quick to play, and rated highly at Norman’s table.

  • 12 picks
  • Rated 7+ out of 10
  • Most under 45 minutes

If you're new to modern board games, or you're hunting for a gift that will actually come off the shelf, this is where I'd start you. Every game here is one I'd happily teach at my own table. They come together in a few minutes, I rate each of them at least a 7 out of 10, and most of them are back in the box in under 45 minutes.

A few are here because they're the ones I reach for when someone new sits down. The rest are ordered by how much I like them and how often they keep coming back to my table.

  1. Hutan: Life in the Rainforest
    1. Hutan: Life in the Rainforest 7.8/10
    1–4 players · 30–45 min · ages 8+ · plays solo too
    In the quiet act of planting, discover that true growth comes only when every flower, tree, and creature finds its rightful place in the whole.
  2. Pondscape
    2. Pondscape 7.5/10
    1–4 players · 20–35 min · ages 7+ · great with two
    A pond’s harmony is not in the number of frogs, but in the delicate balance between what leaps freely and what patiently waits beneath the surface.
  3. Crokinole
    3. Crokinole 8.5/10
    2–4 players · 30 min · ages 8+ · great with two
    Best with 2 by BGG vote · light
  4. Symbiosis
    4. Symbiosis 7/10
    2–4 players · 10–20 min · ages 8+ · family table
    Symbiosis came into my life the way more games do than I would like to admit.
  5. Carcassonne: 20th Anniversary Edition
    5. Carcassonne: 20th Anniversary Edition 8/10
    2–5 players · 35 min · ages 7+ · great with two
    Best with 2 by BGG vote · light
  6. Magical Athlete
    6. Magical Athlete 6.8/10
    2–6 players · 30 min · ages 6+ · good for a crowd
    I keep coming back to something small about Magical Athlete that I didn't expect to think about this much: it doesn't care who's sitting at…
  7. Market Fresh
    7. Market Fresh 7/10
    1–4 players · 45 min · ages 8+ · plays solo too
    Abundance is never the height of the stack, but the quiet beauty revealed in what is chosen to remain visible.
  8. Catan
    8. Catan 7.7/10
    3–4 players · 60–120 min · ages 10+ · family table
    Best with 4 by BGG vote · medium weight
  9. Splendor
    9. Splendor 7.4/10
    2–4 players · 30 min · ages 10+ · family table
    Best with 3 by BGG vote · light
  10. Castle Combo
    10. Castle Combo 7/10
    2–5 players · 10–25 min · ages 10+ · great with two
    Best with 2 by BGG vote · light
  11. BOOoop.
    11. BOOoop. 6.5/10
    2 players · 25–35 min · ages 10+ · for two
    I fun puzzly area control game with cats and ghost cats.
  12. Cascadia
    12. Cascadia 7/10
    1–4 players · 30–45 min · ages 10+ · great with two
    Best with 2 by BGG vote · light
What I can't stop playing right now
Space Base (47 plays) · Symbiosis (17 plays) · Electrify (9 plays), all in the last 30 days. They aren't all beginner games, but they're a good sign of what keeps landing on my table.
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