I said “girl” as in it shouldn’t matter. Brianna is smart as a whip tomboy and I’m curious what your suggestions would be her.
Stipulations:
Game must end within a 3 days. Preferably within 3 hours. MOST PREFERABLY WITHIN 110 MINUTES.
The more art and playing pieces the better (cards in the game are nice as well). But definately a nice board with pieces.
Preferably 2-3 players, or 2-4 players.
That’s not much to go on. Has she tried the usual staples like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan?
She likes Ticket to Ride a lot and skunks us fairly often. She’s not too into Settlers of Cataan. I was thinking of stuff more like “Small World”.
Stone Age
Thebes
Vikings
I’m not familiar with any of these. All made by the same people?
The game you want is Small World.
Not really.
I can recommend Thebes. It has lots of bits and fits the theme really well. On the downside there is a considerable helping of luck which doesn’t help someone with a competitive streak. Also with all the different cards it can be difficult to teach to some people and keep their interest, regardless of intelligence. Otherwise, tons of fun.
This was my first instinct as well as it certainly has plenty of art and is quite charming. But my gaming group got bored of it very quickly. I don’t think there’s much replayability in this one.
Carcassonne: Hunters and Gatherers. It’s very well suited to 2 players, but will also work with more.
Coloretto looks like a kids game but there’s actually some strategy to it, and it’s fun. Doesn’t work with 2, though.
I don’t really have a good picture in my mind of how “old” 13 is, but if she’s really smart and ready for something a bit mentally taxing, Race for the Galaxy is an awesome game.
I also think Small World fits your criteria. The game is fairly short and the art is very nice. The game is for 2-5 players with separate boards depending on how many players there are so it scales well.
Edit; You’ve posted in this thread so I know you’re familiar but I’ll link it anyways; The QT3 Small World Thread.
Agricola may be another option, it’s listed as 12+ on the box and if she’s beating adults at Ticket to Ride she’s probably ready. The “farming” theme could have appeal. My own little sister, my mother, and my female cousin have all enjoyed it. (My daughter is too young at 9, she’s still enjoying “Sorry”)
Chess. Against a 13 year old, your victory will be swift and merciless.
Incidentally, I don’t have kids and I suck at chess.
Cranium…every 13 year old love that game!
No to Agricola if Settlers didn’t go down well. I don’t see how Small World would pass muster either.
I would suggest:
Same here, lets play some.
I’d say RISK is the best board game, ever (okay, maybe not, but damn close!), however, your designated perquisites, in particular the time constraints, disallow me from proposing it.
A shame, if Brianna is as smart as you claim. But yeah, RISK is a pain to setup and some rules to learn, so it’s not for those with short attention span (but once you get into the actual game…FUN! STRIFE! Porcelain vases flying across the room, EXCITING!).
really? You find the RISK rules hard to learn? I dont mean to sound offensive, but thats the first time I ever heard that.
I hate the game though…I dont understand why when I have a gazzilion units and want to invade a country, he can hold me off with 3 units…thats just dumb! I remember refusing to play the game for 2 years when that happened to me ;-) Of course, its the same for everyone, so to play the game well (or rather, any game) you should learn to play within the structure of the game, not trying to enfore RealLife simulation on it…took me a while to understand that, though ;-)
Seriously? I think the various races and abilities, randomly combined, add a lot of replayability to the game.
Betrayal at House on the Hill is also out of print. Dominions is an excellent choice.
Risk is the most over rated and terrible game ever made.