Gaming time has become something of a premium. Also, decent players have become difficult to find since the last few have moved on. In order to continue the spirit of gaming and to have a good time, I am starting weekly Board Game Night at my house. I am very excited to get interest in gaming from friends that have never been exposed to RPGs.

This post was for two purposes. The first was just to exclaim my excitement and boast that beers and good times will be shared on a regular basis. The second purpose was to get a question answered. I would love to expose these people to the RPG side of gaming but it would have to be in very small doses. I think this could be accomplished in one of two ways: me to modify an existing game (like Warhammer Quest); or to find a game that accomplishes what I desire.

What I desire is a game that could be played by kids (12+ or so is fine...so fairly simple), the game needs to be a fairly quick play (1-2 hours like a typical boardgame), also I would love to be able to do this with the use of miniatures and WWG terrain but without a DM.

My thought right now is to fashion a deck of event cards and a deck of treasure cards. Each person would have a character card with a minimal number of stats. There would be a set goal (kill a specific bad guy, find some specific object, etc). Anytime a character goes into a new area, they draw an event card (which could be an encounter, a trap, nothing at all, etc). When a monster is defeated or a chest or similar is opened, a player would draw a treasure card.

Again, the main point of this is for the game to play like a boardgame and be casual enough to keep the primary focus on the social interaction. I do own Warhammer Quest and an expansion, but think it might even be too rules heavy.

Thoughts?

I hear Castle Ravenloft may fit that bill pretty decently.

Mageknight Dungeons would also work.

Sounds like what you really need is HeroQuest.

And good luck finding it, too.

Hmmm, I have run the Basic version of Warhammer Quest with kids that were eight and nine years of age. (They are now in my Pathfinder game, ages 12+)

It really was not hard getting them to know the rules, except, maybe, for the Wizard, who just didn't seem to grasp that rolling a '1' was a bad thing! (To be more honest, I think she loved rolling 1s. Every group needs a combat monkey, this time it was the Wizard.)

For the record - the two biggest hack and slashers in my games are both girls, and neither is playing a fighter type. One is playing an Alchemist, just so she can make things go *BOOM!* Eric, the wargamer, is more about tactics, but these girls love the combat.

The Auld Grump

I would suggest Last Night On Earth. It's a zombie apocalypse game. Some buddies of mine and I get together every other Monday night for beers and a few games of it. The games take 60-90 minutes depending on the scenario you pick. There's a lot of shouting, trash talk, and guffaws.

Simple to pick up, and great for people who like to just play, but robust enough to handle thoughtful tactics and strategy.

Check it out: .

Oooh, two more: Kill Doctor Lucky (either the original Cheapass version, if you can find it, or the much more expensive Fantasy Flight version). A great game, best described as the game before Clue, where you just want to be alone with Mr. Body, I mean Dr. Lucky, for just a few minutes with a suitable weapon.... I have a hand painted miniature that I have named Colonel Mustard for use in that game.

The other is also by Fantasy Flight - The Arkham Horror, a game where bad things are seeping into this world, and the Investigators have to try and stop them. (Oddly enough Colonel Mustard is an Investigator, as well as a would be assassin....)

The Auld Grump, it was Colonel Mustard, in the Armoury, with a cannon....

Keep in mind that Last Night on Earth has just a little material that's probably not appropriate for younger kids.

If you're looking for games that will be enjoyed by typical non-gamers, then I can recommend a game like . It's somewhat cooperative with exploration and each game, in theory, plays out differently.

Had a successful game night Friday night. We played a few games. The T-Shirt Game (kind of like Apples to Apples), Dominion, Scattergories, and even a couple games of Magic the Gathering.

The game night was almost too successful. I rolled into bed at about 4:45am and we started playing at about 8:00pm. Fun times were definitely had.

We have had a couple of successful game nights recently. Tonight we played Dominion almost primarily. There were a couple of hands of Magic the Gathering. This was all a backdrop to the main focus of having a couple beers and hanging out. Good times were had.

Talae, Super Dungeon Explore may work for you as well, you can download the demo rules from Soda Pop Miniatures website. You ought to be able to play with your WWG terrain, and it uses some pretty hilarious miniatures. The girls in my group are pretty excited for me to pick this one up.

I'm partial to Settlers of Catan myself.