Scrabble like games? (Short Term Strategy)

[redrun]

I'd like to do more gaming with my partner, but our gaming intersection is near non-existant. I like a wide variety of games, tending towards long-term strategy games (I think of them as decision tree games, where your earlier choices are building the base towards your end game strategy). She likes Scrabble. I have a logic flaw somewhere that makes spelling difficult for me, and playing scrabble is painful at best. Reading some of the recent game suggestion threads, I figure I'll pick up Forbidden Island to see if a coop game is a way for us to play together (and see if I can coop, rather then try to run the entire game!). I'm also thinking backgammon might work.

However, I figured I throw out a query for other suggestions. A few points - she's very social, and with a larger group enjoys Apples to Apples. I'll probably try to get her into a group game of King of Tokyo to see if silly gaming-lite is more her thing. I don't think she's a fan of card type games (regular deck of cards - hearts, pinochle, etc.), but in typing this I realize I should really ask her if there are any such games she likes. If there is a thread already for non-hardcore games to play with non-hardcore gamers I'd appricate a pointer to it.

Ideas, thoughts, suggestions?

[Smoove_B]

If she's really into card games, I'd recommend checking out Dominion. Sure, purists might roll their eyes at this point, but I think it's a great "gateway" game that isn't too intimidating and rather quick to understand. I didn't think so at first, but depending on how you load up the decks, two player games can be quite varied. I think it's best with 3-4 players, but two can absolutely work. That link is to the base game which comes with 500 cards that you use to construct various themed games. They have a whole bunch of pre-constructed decks to use depending on the game style you'd like to play.

The good thing about learning Dominion is that many other games have taken the same idea and added so much more. But in terms of being non-gamer friendly? It's a great start IMHO.

[hentzau]

What about Qwirkle? I had a friend refer to it as "cave man" Scrabble. You put things together on a free-form Scrabble grid, but you use shapes and colors instead of letters.

[Boudreaux]

Another idea would be "puzzle" games like Blokus or Ingenious.

[Smoove_B]

I really have to stop posting when I'm on cold medication. Somehow I read, "She's not a fan of card games" as "She's a fan of card games." I'll just let myself out, but I guess I'll try to redeem myself my mentioning Bananagrams as maybe something she can enjoy solo.

[redrun]

I've got friends who love Bananagrams (I just backed away from the table when they pull it out at gaming parties). I'm thinking I haven't tried any spelling games in a while, so perhaps it's time to give them another try - perhaps 30 years of spell-checker access has improved my overall spelling?

Qwirkle, Blokus, and Ingenious all look like good possibilites - especially since we'll both be starting from scratch.

I'll keep checking for suggestions for the next few days and do a game order this weekend. Even if my partner doesn't like any of them I've got a niece who has been asking me to find some more lighter games (like Settlers) that she can play with her husband, so I've got a ready place to send them as hand-me-downs.

[redrun]

Edit became double post. All gone.

[Anonymous Bosch]

If she's open to playing abstract games, I would reiterate my earlier recommendation of Hive, made in this thread. The rules are quite straightforward and easy to learn, and it's also an extremely portable game with awesome components/build quality (yet it won't break the bank).

[Daehawk]

Sorta on topic is there a scrabble online thats free? Ive tried some sites and they are spam warehouses it seems.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Sorta on topic is there a scrabble online thats free? Ive tried some sites and they are spam warehouses it seems.

Best bet is probably the open source Scrabble3D.

[Hamsterball_Z]

Do you think she'd like set-building type games? You could think of Scrabble as collecting sets of tiles that build words. Poker and Yahtzee would be another example of the mechanic. Something where you're collecting and building up sets: three of a kind, straight, full house, etc.

You could do a search on BoardGameGeek for set collection games and see if you find something you like. Ticket to Ride is always mentioned as a good gateway game and it falls in that category. Build up sets of colored trains to capture train lines and connect cities on the map. The more difficult the route the higher the points you get.

A game my family likes to play is Pastiche. You have a set of paintings you are trying to recreate. To do this you collect and mix paints to match the ones on the painting's color chart. Once you have all the colors you complete the painting and get points.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Sorta on topic is there a scrabble online thats free? Ive tried some sites and they are spam warehouses it seems.

There is a free version of Scrabble of FB (or can be downloaded on your mobile phone/iPad). However, you can't play against the computer.

[Isgrimnur]

If you go Ticket to Ride, I would recommend the India expansion, which includes the Swizz map. It's designed specifically to max out at 3 players, making it a bit less competitive solitaire than the full US map.

I've been playing the iPhone version, and I enjoy a 3-player game on Switzerland better than I do the Europe map that is the base game.

[Chrisoc13]

If you go Ticket to Ride, I would recommend the India expansion, which includes the Swizz map. It's designed specifically to max out at 3 players, making it a bit less competitive solitaire than the full US map.

I've been playing the iPhone version, and I enjoy a 3-player game on Switzerland better than I do the Europe map that is the base game.

This or even better IMO for two players is Nordic countries because it doesn't become a draw fest like Switzerland.