Posted by Jeffro on 2012-11-14 03:56:46

It's name implies violence, but it's really a fairly harmless game and it's "victories" are rather open-ended. Killer Bunnies. You can feel like you won and not actually win... and you can get beat up all game and "win". There's a newer version of the card game that is a board game. There's also a "Kinder Bunnies" version that is more for younger kids, but can integrate with the card game.

I believe the creator lives close to Canada, too, if I'm not mistaken. I was in contact with him for a slight bit as I got into the game in it's early stages. Anyhoo... you might already have the game or might have already ruled it out. But it's the first thing that came to my head.

Posted by MattDakka on 2012-11-14 04:00:38

What about Dominion, the card game?

Posted by robocoyote on 2012-11-14 04:01:16

Risk was a favorite of mine

Posted by Macavity on 2012-11-14 04:11:03

Killer Bunnies is a blast (with the right group of players), but I think the need to really carry all the expansions is untenable for our current available space.

Dominion...... Might be possible. I've certainly had better luck getting non-nerds into it than, say, Thunderstone.

robocoyote, not really an option for us, but for yourself, track down Risk Legacy. I guarantee you will love it. Guarantee. Seriously, I would come to your house and give you an apology beer in person if you didn't like it.

Posted by ryanfitz on 2012-11-14 04:17:39

I really enjoyed:
History of the World
made by Avalon Hill

Posted by pythrr on 2012-11-14 04:19:57

i'd be tempted to order a few copies of the Game of Thrones boardgame in too - it might tempt a few of the novel readers.

Another one might be Stone Age - a really accessible and visually pleasing light euro.

Posted by cameronhawkins on 2012-11-14 04:28:41

––Lost Cities, by Kniezia/Rio Grande is a great card game.
––Dixit is a fairly new release that is light, and also the rare game that is more appreciated by girls than boys.
––Louis XIV, and St. Pertersburg are excellent high-strategy Euro games.
––Blockus, another Kziezia game, is fantastic.

I second Dominion, too

Personally, I think that FFG's Blood Bowl Card Game is stellar...

Posted by Mr_Foulscumm on 2012-11-14 04:30:11

Agricola

Posted by Lorebass on 2012-11-14 04:31:20

Carry some Munchkins card games. lots of non-nerds play that.

Posted by Nelphine on 2012-11-14 04:46:18

another vote for dominion

would roborally count as non violent? you control robots that try to get to objectives before the rest, like a race, but you also have lasers that shoot people

Posted by oryx on 2012-11-14 05:15:23

If you haven't got it, cranium is a hit with most crowds of non-nerds. I also like dominion a lot. Agricola is too complicated.

Bang is also very popular in the communal house I lived in.

Posted by Severedunit on 2012-11-14 05:41:16

Catch Phrase is a good one: fun fast and addictive with only one game piece. I've played this with my hard core gaming group and at another time my mother in law. It travels very very well also.

Munchkin is simple and good fun.

I love Puerto Rico for the more involved,non-elimination type game. It's lasted the test of time with my group and has no dice.

Posted by Burnalot on 2012-11-14 06:02:25

I would recommend Dominant Species. Incredibly easy rules, great depth.
The other one is Republic of Rome, although this one is really hard and involves a lot of backstabbing. I think it is one of the best games ever.

Posted by pythrr on 2012-11-14 06:07:51

2nd for Dominant Species. Great Game - go Amphibians!

Posted by lizvis on 2012-11-14 07:47:02

Ra is amazing, if it hasn't been mentioned yet.

Posted by lizvis on 2012-11-14 08:07:15

also, the richard borg games are good (Battle Cry and Memoirs '44 to name two). they all come from the same mold and are easy to learn and fun.

i've played agricola before and it is a good game, it just takes awhile to develop a strategy to where you can compete with players who already have experience.

i've never played dominion or puerto rico, but i've watched the nerds down at the hobby shop play it, so i am familiar, they both seem quite good.

i've never played or watched Game of Thrones be played, but i was quite impressed with the description i read on BoardGameGeek.com. it's a bidding game, i love bidding games. bidding > dice rolling

Posted by lizvis on 2012-11-14 08:12:44

one last post, i promise............

i would say that dominion is probably the best one to add to your list, and the only one that is really 'must add' status.

and if you have some really hardcore duelers, 'Twilight Struggle' might be a good one. no it's not a vampire game. it's setting is the cold war between america and russia and it is the number 1 all time strategy game on boardgamegeek.com. it takes a long time to play, and it's kinda rulesy are the downsides.

Posted by Ullakkomorko on 2012-11-14 08:27:09

My guess is you might have listed games that have sold great in the past but the sales might have fallen off by now. At least I'd guess Carcassonne falls in that category. Ticket to Ride probably continues to sell I'd guess.

Another category you might look into are children's games that adults have fun playing too. The best games in that category I've seen come from:

http://www.dreimagier.de/index.php?id=428

They probably have an English site somewhere but I've had a lot of fun playing some of their games Spooky Stairs/Ghost Stair (Geistertreppe in German) and Magical Labyrinth (Das Magische Labyrinth) with my 5 year old daughter. We've both liked those games (Labyrinth in particular) and many times I haven't needed to scale back my own focus. Too many children's games are a bit of a bore for adults, at least those aimed at younger (4-5+) kids.

Game of Thrones does sound like a good idea. It's pretty complicated but it might sell well in a book store.

Posted by xnoelx on 2012-11-14 08:36:04

Battlestar Galactica is popular with the boardgamers at my local gaming club, although I've not tried it myself. Also, shouldn't someone have suggested Blood Bowl Manager by now?

Posted by Garion on 2012-11-14 09:07:36

bloodbowl perhaps :)

Dominion, Carcassonne, Disk World game.

Posted by Qaz on 2012-11-14 09:13:54

Fouly named Agricola and thats an excellent game that you should have. Even easier to pick up and lern and just as fun is Porto Rico (the bord game not the card game version of the bord game)

Posted by Shraaaag on 2012-11-14 10:04:34

Spiel des Jahres (german for game of the year) has a list of great games, and most of them are family friendly and easy to learn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiel_des_Jahres

Posted by the_Sage on 2012-11-14 10:15:39

For not-so-nerds I'd look at more casual games as well, such as set, fluxx, or jungle speed.

I assume you're familiar with boardgamegeek.com?
Might post the same question there. =)

Posted by Meltyman on 2012-11-14 10:21:21

Wits & Wagers is a huge hit (at least the Finnish version). It's light and interesting.
You basically ask a question, then everyone writes their answer down and you put the answers to the table and bet the answer you think is the closest, so you don't have to know anything you can just guess who knows best.

Mallorca - this is a not-so-nerds-game since it's easy to play and strategy-wise it's really light.. i don't like it so much, but my fianceé loves it, so i suggested it for this blog hehe.

I second cameronhawkins about Dixit, it has been one of the most played games in my house and everyone has liked it from age range of 5 - 70 and between non-gamers and gamers.

I would also second BANG!-card game with oryx, but it appears to be a bit 'nerdy' for some.. For a person who play boardgames and card games, it's easy to learn, but for people who doesn't play much anything, BANG! is too much in my experience. It also needs 5-7 people to be interesting so, that's an issue also.

Posted by Ehlers on 2012-11-14 11:26:32

All those games you list can more or less be found on this list:
http://boardgamegeek.com/strategygames/browse/boardgame

On that list
Puerto Rico
I have played this several times and always fun

Agricola
Play out almost the same as Puerto Rico.

Tigris & Euphrates
This one I will really recommend for you. It is a hand management title placement game. The rules and mechanics are easy to learn. A lot of games where you have hand management and draw of cards/titles is influence a lot of luck IMO. Take settlers for one. The dice is very important sadly though, fun game but a lot of times it is won by the dice and not so much again by the actions you do (IMO). But in Tigris and Euphrates I have not found that to be true due to how you gain points. There is one concept of that you dont own a kingdom you need to explain players and something that new players might have a hard time to graps, but once they understand the mechanics and concept of the game then they love it. All people I have introduced this game to love it and this is even over settlers, ticket to ride, agricola, risk, Puerto Rico, Axis and Allies etc.

Posted by Metalsvinet on 2012-11-14 11:36:24

Agricola and Munchkin as already mentioned.

Roborally is good fun too.

Posted by Chainsaw on 2012-11-14 12:14:26

Monopoly!

*ducks*

Posted by Reisender on 2012-11-14 12:26:43

"El Grande" fits into that selection (hardcore gamers may faind it has not enough options, but it is ok/good for casual players).

"Pandemic" is cooperative, not easy (although it has 3 different difficulties), and involves pandemics, but it doesnt involve "direct violence" and is great.

"Robo Rallye" invovles funny robo violence, but is entertaining and harmless.

"Taboo" is a must have classic imo for a family friendly game selection.

i agrre with ulakk... that "magical labyrinth" is great for kids.

Lord of the Rings cooperative game comes into my mind for a bookstore.

Odin´s Ravens is a nice raven race for two, without viloence,

"Bang!" a western shootout cheap card game, is easy and fun,a lthough best with 4-5 players (and 7 in extended edition).

"k2" mountaineering game, is great, has different difficulties and includes a family friendly variant (you can´t die but get "rescued"). various awards.

"trivial pursuit" seems a classic you should have (made for bookstore customers i guess).

Posted by PurpleChest on 2012-11-14 12:58:06

lots of good suggestions, so I'm trying to go a bit more leftfield for you:

Mexican train dominos. Is it a board game? not really, but everyone should own a copy and it usually sits alongside them in stores.

Yatzee, Boggle and Scrabble are, i am assuming, on your shelves already, if not they should be.

With the growth in poker and poker writing, i would also hope to see some quality poker sets in book shops nowadays, if they are selling any kind of games at all.

Posted by Shraaaag on 2012-11-14 13:07:49

Since Puerto Rico is mentionned, I will mention San Juan, which is the cardgame versiion of Puerto Rico

Posted by Jeffro on 2012-11-14 14:24:03

More family oriented and covering a wide range of ages... Apples to Apples. My kids reminded me of that this morning...

Posted by Gremdel on 2012-11-14 16:28:49

As a former book and game store owner, I'd suggest some "party" games: Wits and Wagers, Times Up, Dixit, and Apples to Apples.

But most importantly, the games aren't going to sell if the employees haven't played them and can't recommend them. Host a store game night and play some of these games so they can hand sell them. Whatever is the employee's favorite will more than likely be the best seller.

Posted by DonTomaso on 2012-11-14 17:01:44

Pandemic for some cooperation fun.

Formula De or Rallyman for some racing fun.

World of Warcraft - a gateway to boardgames for the digital generation.

Posted by Grudgebearer on 2012-11-14 19:04:34

Hey, I'm gonna recommend "King of Tokyo", my latest purchase. The mechanics are simple dice-throwing much like Yatzee, the theme is fun and the components and graphics are of very high quality. It plays in like 20-30 minutes, it's fast-paced and hilarious!

Posted by numbersix on 2012-11-14 19:28:08

I agree.. I'd go on with Citadels, Discworld Ankhmorpork and Munchkin.

I also like very much Arkham Horror, Battlestar Galactica, Aye Dark Overlord and Axis and Allies.

Posted by Malerun on 2012-11-14 20:03:44

I can support most of the games already mentioned, even though a few of the war games, I would call nerdy :)

May I add:
Thurn und Taxis: Light strategy, playable for 2
Richocet Robots: A mind wrestling puzzle game
Calypso: Only played it once, but seemed like great fun.

Posted by oryx on 2012-11-14 20:18:38

Another that needs a bit of learning but is overall pretty simple and has intense replay value is betrayal at the house on haunted hill. Definitely a winner.

Also second pandemic!

Posted by Verminardo on 2012-11-14 20:38:33

If I had to name exactly five games I would name the ones you did, so thumbs up. If you want more, I'd like to second Puerto Rico, El Grande, and Pandemic as "German style" board games. Taboo is THE party game, with Activity the runner-up. I figure you don't want to do the "classics" like Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Risk, Yatzeh et al.

Posted by Dalfort on 2012-11-14 21:13:45

Formula D is a good game with add-ons too

I like Keltis when I played that, and also Vikings (I play that on Yucata.de)

Posted by Rooke on 2012-11-15 00:54:41

I'd suggest a game like Pandemic or Ghost stories. The cool part of those games is that they are co-operative. No one gets eliminated and you all work against the board. Both are worth checking out, but if you have a really young audience they might find Ghost stories a little too graphic with some of the artwork on the cards.

Posted by lizvis on 2012-11-15 13:39:41

i can't believe no one has mentioned Power Grid yet. very good game.

Posted by Macavity on 2012-11-16 06:33:57

Excellent suggestions guys, really helped spark my brain. Thanks a lot!