alt Hacker NewsA bit Off topic. I am looking for a Board Game for my step dad. He is a retired 80+ years old rancher. He doesn't know any english at all, so he is very limited on choices. Something that can be played by himself or with other person.
Replies
I'd look into something tactile, with simple rules but strategic depth:
Personally I'd recommend Hive or a similar (and simpler) tile movement game, High Tide.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2655/hive
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/430875/high-tide
Both have nice chunk tiles, no board requirement, few pieces, and can easily travel. And they can both be easily explained.
If you're not opposed to card games, Five Crowns [1] is a house staple in both sides of my family. It will require multiple people.
Sagrada [2] is a fun game as well. Can be played solo, but I find it more fun with others.
[1] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1472/five-crowns [2] https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/199561/sagrada
I'd recommend that you try and ask this in a more specialized forum (e.g. BGG [1]). Also, if solo playable board games is a must - this drastically reduces the amount of games.
Maybe also consider card games (like Solitaire)?
SET - Great for a 80+ year old brain. If SET is too hard, there is a kids edition as well. https://playset.netlify.app/
hard to give recommendations without more information. For example
1. what languages does he know? there are boardgames that are localized into other languages. Probably the easiest route tbh.
2. what kinds of games does he like? for example, many boardgames have very little english on the game pieces. think any game that uses a standard poker deck, e.g. solitaire, or many others. Mahjong is another example though, as is dominos).
There are some modern boardgames that might also be fine, namely ones that discourage communication in the first place. It's common in co-op boardgames. For example, the Lord of the Rings trick taking game is 1-4 players, and during gameplay there is no discussion allowed. Game pieces can be separated into two categories
1. scenario-specific ones, which have text on them/must be read to be understood/played. You could maybe translate them? or it may have been localized for a language he's literate in. I don't know.
2. secnario-independent ones, which are (functionally) poker cards.
For this game you only need to share language when understanding the scenario-specific cards, and when planning strategy before each scenario starts. I would be comfortable playing the game with someone I don't share a language with if
1. we both know the game (this would be the hard part), and
2. we have two copies of the game, so we each can read our scenario-specific cards in our own language, and
3. we struggled through with a translation app before each scenario starts, if we want to discuss strategy.
The existing suggestions are good, but what about Cribbage?
Here is my list, I won't go into too many details as to rules or anything like that. I recommend checking out the links below to see what the games are like.
Two Players:
- Backgammon: This is my favorite "classic" game. I think it is _way_ more fun than chess. Especially if you play it with the doubling cube. Backgammon is easy to learn and it is common across many cultures.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2397/backgammon
- Lost Cities: this is a card game for two players that does not require any reading, aside from numbers. The game is very simple to learn but has a lot of depth and it is a lot of fun. I usually recommend this a good game for couples.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/50/lost-cities
- Battle Line: This is like Lost Cities but a little more complex, it has great depth.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/760/battle-line
Four Players
- The Mind: This is a four player card game that won game of the year back when it came out. It has no words at all. This game is extremely popular and the game play is very easy to learn (even easy for a kid). It requires all players to work together as team.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244992/the-mind
- The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine - This is also a four player card where you play as a team and there are no words. This game involves trick taking, which is gameplay mechanic that I was not familiar with before I played this, but you grandpa has probably played a card game in the past that does this (Bridge, Spades, and Hearts).
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/284083/the-crew-the-ques...
Single Player:
- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: The Thames Murders & Other Cases - This game is entirely made up of reading words. It is a very clever game that is kind of like a choose your own adventure. You get multiple cases to try to solve and you have to try to beat Sherlock Holmes. It can be frustrating but also rewarding. I would recommend getting it in grandpa's native language.
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2511/sherlock-holmes-con...
Azul comes to mind.
Azul and Set are both good. Can’t Stop is another classic “push your luck” game.
Dorfromantik is a very nice game that can be played as a solo or co-op game. It was released in multiple languages: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/370591/dorfromantik-the-...
The basic rules aren't hard to learn and official digital versions of the rulebook and addendums with some clarifications are available (at least) in English and German.
If none of the official releases are in your language of choice, translating them shouldn't take too long. During the campaign, should you decide to play it, you unlock some cards with text on them which explains the unlock conditions and the elements they add to the game. An example of those cards can be seen in the addendum on pages 2 and 5. There aren't too many of them, so it's quite feasible to translate them.
For the English version, have a look here:
https://pegasusna.com/Dorfromantik-The-Boardgame/PNA51240.US...
Rule book: https://pegasusna.com/NetiMedia/download?mediaId=018e5c292cd...
Addendums: https://pegasusna.com/NetiMedia/download?mediaId=018e5c29466...