| Occult is just one of many, many popular themes in board games. Others are: * trains (Trans America, Ticket to Ride, Empire Builder, 1830) * animals (Wingspan has been mentioned), * building (Catan, Pillars of the Earth, Argicola), * trading (Le Havre, Cuba) (note: trading as a theme, not necessarily a game mechanic) * evolution (Primordial Soup, Evolution) * space combat (Core Worlds, X-Wing) * history (Through the Ages, Civilization) (I've tried to order the games roughly from easy to complex) It's certainly true that fantasy, horror, and occult are also popular themes. Perhaps more so in Anglo-Saxon-style games than in Eurogames, which can be about extremely mundane things, like maintaining a garden or sewing a patchwork. A couple of other interesting non-fantasy games: El Dorado (finding your way through the wilderness) Power Grid (generating power and supplying it to cities) Terraforming Mars (theme is obvious) Twilight Struggle (the Cold War) Check on BoardgameGeek[0]. Also pay attention to complexity, time and age requirements. Some games are very big, complex and time-consuming, others are quick and easy. Catan, Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne are all classics that fall somewhere in the middle. [0] https://boardgamegeek.com/browse/boardgame |