[shezi]

Those are all great games and great suggestions, but they are also very heavy and and long games. Even with skilled players, you won't be able to complete a session of Terraforming Mars in less than two hours.

While Catan is not a perfect game, it's a perfect beginners game: a bit of luck, but a bit of strategy, lots of player interaction, and not too long. At the same time, it also shows its age, in that there are newer games that are beginner friendly and eliminate some of Catan's shortcomings.

Your main point, however, is still often forgotten: the oars games have come a long way since 1935 and even 1997.

If anyone wants to learn more about this, there are excellent and very friendly communities at boardgamegeek.com and reddit.com/r/boardgames

[jader201]

Yeah, these can definitely be a bit longer. Catan can also take a bit, though, particularly if you’re unlucky or playing with people that don’t trade (which can be frustrating).

For more beginner friendly + shorter games, though, I’d still recommend several over Catan:

- Carcassonne - Ticket to Ride - Splendor - 7 Wonders - Pandemic - Codenames - Azul

[shezi]

Those are all excellent beginner friendly recommendations. In general, the Spiel des Jahres are quite good suggestions, offering enough depth for long-term play, yet being easy enough to learn.

[chrisweekly]

Those are good games too, but Codenames (one of my all-time faves) is radically simpler, quieter and less social than Catan; IME it's great fun for the spymasters but can be less engaging for other players at times. (shrug)