Games for Beginners

OK, so you want to introduce your friends, girlfriend, family members, wife, children, whatever to games (this assumes you have friends that don't play games, and are socially adept enough to have a girlfriend, wife, children, etc.). What do you choose?

I suggest easy board and card games that don't take too much time (less than 10 minutes to explain the rules and less than an hour to play are my limits for Gateway games). Perhaps this can occur during the holidays, when everyone is nappish after eating too much, or sated with new presents. Now's the time to whip something out, besides the hundredth game of Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble (not that I'm knocking those games, but they can get tiresome as a steady diet).

Here are some recommendations from Pyramid that I've collected. If you have more suggestions, send them to me with your reasoning.

Games marked with a I've played it are ones I've personally played.

Beginner Games:

Personally, I think Settlers and Robo Rally to be maybe the next step after getting people started on easier games. They are all fun, but are a little more complex and take longer to complete a game. So, let's start a list of somewhat more involved games. There is some focus on SF and Fantasy elements in this list.

Next-Step Games:

Another discussion on rec.games.board was discussing family games for a couple with 11- and 13-year-old daughters. The poster was specifically looking for German games. Here are the recommendations:

Family Games: