A common remark we hear at Hexagon is, “I didn’t realize there were so many games!” Sometimes that shock gives way to excitement and their eyes roam the shelves in wonder. However, for some, that shock sours and their eyes widen in fear from stepping into what they thought was a comfortable, familiar world and is now unknown.

Most people’s experience with board games comes from warm and fuzzy nostalgic memories of the whole family gathered around a game at the table, talking, laughing, and having fun. Popular family games included Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, and Risk, which is typically what people not initiated into the wonderful world of modern board games regard as THE board games, or, the only ones that exist.

So, your friends are scared. Maybe you just dropped the full weight of a Euro-game on the table, and as you flip open the first page of a medical-text sized rulebook, they watch with a budding sense of horror, asking what have they gotten themselves into. Sometimes it’s better to start with something a little lighter. Something at Hexagon we like to call, a gateway game.

Word Games

Anomia being played by… meeples!?

One of the easiest games to teach beginners is Anomia. Players take turns drawing a card from the deck and flipping it face-up so that they see it at the same time as everybody else. If they already have a card face-up in front them, it covers that up (still face-up though). This is when the fun begins. If the symbol on the card matches a symbol somewhere else on the table, then those two players engage in what I like to call, a good ol’ fashioned showdown. You have to name something in the category on the opponent’s card before they name something in the category on yours. The player who wins gets that card as a point which goes face-down in front of them. It’s easy and fun, but best of all, Anomia can open the path towards games such as Codenames and Decrypto if your friends enjoy wordplay, or Ghost Blitz and Dutch Blitz if they prefer the fast-paced gameplay.

Next week we’ll be doing a part two of Gateway games. Until then, enjoy your week and play some games.