I didn’t love Terraforming Mars, but everyone else did. That said DH and I playing together somehow managed to beat all the kids despite being way behind as far as we knew. What made the difference was doing enough dithering and having so many cards we couldn’t play that we got the Planner Bonus.
If you are looking for an exceedingly silly and quick party game I can recommend Exploding Kittens.
My older son and nephew played Spirit Island. It’s a cooperative game and looked excessively complicated to me!
I forgot to mention Steampunk Rally which we all played last year. I’ve probably forgotten it because I was so terrible at it!
We played Smallworld with the Sky Islands expansion which allowed more of us to play. We enjoyed most of the new races and abilities.
Finally we got a bunch of Dominion expansions - really enjoyed Nocturne.
We got Pandemic: Fall of Rome, which has the Pandemic mechanics, but is not about a pandemic. We’re loving it. Also some gaming friends came over the day after Christmas and we played a couple of scenarios in Gloomhaven, wiping out many monsters.
I guess what I didn’t like about Terraforming Mars was that there were so many things to keep track of. There were the oxygen levels and temperature levels which you had to remember the exact rules of from the rule book since they weren’t on the board. The cards had way too much stuff to keep track of. Not just what was written on the cards but the symbols in the circles. I also thought the shorthand symbols for what stuff did was confusing. I also thought it was way too easy to bump the boards in front of you with all your little cubes, at which point you’d have no idea what was where. The boys play more games like this, so some of the mechanics and shorthand symbols didn’t seem weird to them.
@“Cardinal Fang” Terraforming Mars reminds me somewhat of a morphed version of Civilization and Catan. I think it’s complexity is less than Civilization with multiple expansions. Civilization with all the expansions we have makes me feel Ike @mathmom described TM, but I like TM’s level.
TM constantly changes scenarios every game, too, bc so much depends on which corporation you are and what cards you draw (part of the similarity I see between TM and Civ.) I haven’t been able to duplicate the same strategy in any game.
Terraforming Mars can seem overwhelming the first time - maybe two - that one plays as there are a fair number of components, but after a little repetition they’re “old hat” like pretty much any game. Then those added components make it a fun game because of all the diversity. It doesn’t get to be “boring” as much as typical games - at least - not for those of us who like more strategy to think about.
Our family traveled to Clemson to watch the Eclipse a couple years back and took the game along to play. It was nigh onto perfect as a way to fill time. We had a picnic table, shade, family fun time, the eclipse - and I wish we’d gotten a commission for all the game “sales” they likely made after folks passing by asked us about the game!
We enjoy games and got several this year. My kids enjoy Catan, Ticket to Ride, Pandemic, etc.
I had Terraforming Mars in my Amazon cart for a while and then read this thread and ordered it. We only played it once and it was OK. We all had the standard corporation cards for beginners, so missed out on that aspect. We were a little overwhelmed reading the instructions, but enjoyed the game and will play again.
Azul and Carcassone were the big winners. We all loved them.
My NYC D asked for small games. Deep Sea Adventure is a tiny game that is well designed and very fun. Enjoyed Sushi Go. Didn’t get a chance to play Mr. Jack, Pocket edition, but it got great reviews.
My niece has ‘What’s your Meme?’ and we played on Christmas. My sister, niece and nephew thought it was hysterical. Me? Not so much. It was okay for a group, but I was bored after a while.
I think I mentioned this in a previous thread, but Jackbox games has some fun party games you play by linking your phones to the TV screen/computer. We are particularly fond of Drawful. Being able to draw is not necessary - half the fun is coming up with good titles for terrible drawings.
If you’re interested in getting an idea of what game play is like Wes Wheaton (who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek) had (has?) a series on youtube where you can watch him play the game with friends. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TableTop_(web_series)