+1 to Small World. It’s not even remotely streamlined and you’re going to be poring over the manual every turn on your first game, but it’s way too fun to pass up.
Seconded, with one caveat : it’s only brilliant with six players. No more, no less. Well, it can’t be played with more in any case (barring the Bene Tleilax third party addition), but with fewer players it can become unbalanced as hell depending on which faction do not get to play.
I would suggest the board game based on A Song Of Ice And Fire (I think it’s called A Game of Thrones in English) - and not only because the books are good. It’s like a mix between **Diplomacy **and Shadows over Camelot, and it’s simply brilliant. Although, like Diplomacy, prepare to lose some friends if you play it right 
Speaking of which, well, I see you don’t have Diplomacy. You probably want to adress that ASAP.
Since you like Agricola you may want to consider Le Havre by the same designer
One of my favorites amoung newer games is Endeavor
And since you mention Yahtzee, you shoud definitely try “Yahtzee for gamers” - Roll Through The Ages
Brian
Trying to picture Diplomacy as a solo game. I stab me in the back!
I heard alot of good things about War of the Ring, I’ve been waiting for the reprint.:smack:
The only "heavy game (AH style) I found interesting an challenging when played solo is Republic of Rome , because it has a “solo mode” ( other factions play, vote, etc… according to a set of rule).
However, of course, it’s not nearly as interesting as playing it with other players.
By the way, that’s my favourite board game ever, in particular because it requires the players to cooperate (otherwise Rome is conquered, or bankrupt, or face a popular revolt and all players lose, which might happen quite often in the early period) while at the same time trying to advance towards an individual victory.
Unfortunately, it’s a complex and long game, and I’m not sure it’s still available.
Or Advanced Civilization.
I give myself the plague in exchange for gold!
Anyway, Arkham Horror is a fun cooperative strategy game. The players each take a predefined role who has certain unique abilities and common abilities. The common abilities can be adjusted a bit each turn, by improving one ability at the cost of making another worse. The goal is to collect clues, items, and spells to close dimensional gates that keep opening all over town and allowing otherworldly monsters in to attack Arkham. Also, if too many gates are open at one time, or you take too long to finish the game, the ultimate horror (usually one of the Elder Gods depending on which “scenario” you choose) will invade Arkham and it’s pretty much game over.
A lot of great suggestions here for games similar to what you already have. Or, you could step up to the level and try out some serious wargames. Paths of Glory, as suggested above, is a good start. There are other similar games out but that is the best IMO.
If you have the time (in addition to the money) you might want to try out some of the OCS games by Multi-Man Publishing. Tunisia or Korea would be good places to start. There are lots and lots of great wargames but I’ve enjoyed these two recently. Of course, BoradGameGeek has them all listed.
+1 to Le Havre, Dominion, Stone Age, and Pandemic. You’re going to want to get Dominion ASAP, it’s a great game, and if you don’t, pretty soon people will be saying “YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED DOMINION?!?!?!” the same way they say “YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED SETTLERS?!?!?!”.
Caylus is a good one, if you like Agricola.
finding a copy of Dune these days is tough, but Cosmic Encounter was recently reprinted in a very nice edition. It’s based on the same engine as Dune, and is a classic.
If you like Puerto Rico, try Cuba. It scratches the same itch in some new and interesting ways.
Die Macher was also reprinted recently, and has an even higher ratio of “Actual Fun” to “Expected fun based on theme” than Bohnanza. (“A game about German Politics?” “Trust me. Remember how much fun Bean Farming turned out to be?”)
On the card game front, you need Tichu, San Juan (or maybe Race for the Galaxy) and maybe Coloretto.
Also, get a see of Icehouse pieces, if only to play Zendo. (Though you can play about 1000 different games with them.)
Pillars of the Earth and In the Year of the Dragon are also good, deep, meaty games.
You need at least one Knizia in your collection. Taj Mahal is one of my faves, but the case can be made for Ra, Through the Desert, or Samurai.
Dune and Cosmic Encounter have some similarities in the combat resolution mechanic, but they play very differently in almost every other respect, IIRC. I recommend both, but CE will be much easier to find. CE is easy to learn and has three integrated “complexity” levels to you can ease into things. Since you’re an experienced gamer, you may as well jump in the deep end with the game altering red level races and artifacts your second game at the latest. They make things very interesting. It’s been too long since I played Dune to remember how simple or difficult it is to pick up and take down.
Along with CE, the other that sees regular play with my group is Arkham Horror, a cooperative game using creatures and settings from the Cthulhu mythos. It’s too fiddley for my wife to enjoy, but my geekier friends who grew up on D&D and Magic love it. Spend 15 minutes or so setting it up and 2-4 hours playing it. AH probably has a much more US feel than a lot of the others mentioned on the list.
It’s been mentioned already, but check out Settlers of Catan. It’s easy to learn, quick to set up, and almost a required game at this point.
Also in the cooperative vein and already mentioned is Pandemic. It’s much faster to learn and play than AH. If Elder Gods isn’t your cup of tea, this is a good cooperative game to grab.
I have Lost Cities, which was mentioned up thread. I enjoy it, but it’s far from my favorite. Very easy to learn and play. It’s also probably the most European game I mention, with Settlers.
I mentioned that one as well up thread. Fun game.
Though even with players playing very well there is a significant chance that the party will lose. So it should be mentioned that the gaming itself is the important thing. The resolution really doesn’t matter.
It’s not a board game, really, but I love Cosmic Wimpout. It’s a really fun dice game. It’s just the thing for when you don’t want to break out a more involved game.
If you have a home copier/printer, then I suggest making copies of the rules for your board games. Heck, even if you have to go down to a commercial copier and get copies made, I suggest doing this. I did it for my Cosmic Encounter game, and it was very much appreciated by all the players. Get enough copies for the maximum number of players…and keep the original untouched.
I played this a few weeks ago, and although I very much like the concept of this game, it was way too convoluted for my taste. It has dozens of different tokens, items and options. There are lots of rules and even more exceptions on them. This game can do with a lot more streamlining. It is not a game for beginners. We were spending more time in the rule book than playing the game. After four hours of play I think we were at round 3.
I suppose it does have a significant learning curve. But one you figure it out, it becomes pretty seemless.
My girlfriend and I had the fortune of playing it the first time with a handful of people who were veterans at the game. When I asked how to play it, they pretty much said that it’s easier to learn while playing than to actually try to read or explain the rules. And it’s true. They handheld me through the first few rounds, but eventually I could pretty much run my character.
The neat thing about the game is that although the rules are complicated, the strategies are actually pretty simple, because the way to win the game is to specialize your strategy. As a general rule you want some players concentrating on acquiring clues, others concentrating on acquiring items, and others concentrating on defeating the monsters. There’s definitely overlap, but each character has a particular strength, and if you concentrate your strategy to best utilize that strength, it’s not all that complicated.
But I can see how it can be quite an effort for a group that has no experienced players.
It’s been awhile since I’ve played Dune (like 8+ years or so), and I remember loving it, and especially how they integrated the theme and feel of the books into the game. But I also remember thinking, “hey, it’s Cosmic Encounter: Dune edition.” 
So maybe my memory is hazy, but my gut says they’re at least as related as, for example Settlers of Catan and Starfarers of Catan. Very different gameplay, same basic engine. So yeah, I recommend both, even based on old hazy memories. But CE is easy to find. (I picked mine up for $15 at this winter’s Barnes and Noble clearance. 
)
So… Captain C, let us know what you end up getting (if anything).
You know, not to thread shit or anything but I own it, played it maybe 10 times and don’t care for it. I recognize it’s potential but I played the ‘Interact’ scenario at the end of the rule book a few times and the game still felt like 4 player solitaire. You play ‘against’ your opponents only in so much as you buy cards before they can. Your options for actually directly affecting them are really limited.
That’s a valid complaint, and if you don’t like the game, a) you’re not alone and b) I’m not going to change your mind. But I’ve played literally hundreds of times, and I assure you there is more interaction than you’re giving it credit for. The key is in the timing. Recognizing what your opponents are doing, and when, and what that means for your deck and how you have to adapt is key. Are my opponents starting the VP rush? If so, do they have the critical mass to pull it off (if so, I need to join in and grab what I can. If not, how much time to I have to tune my deck while they stall out and I can still make up the difference?) Will strategy X be worthwhile (i.e. fast enough) now that my opponent is using strategy Y? And most importantly: I can end the game now. Should I?
Basically, the game is a race, and judging where you are in the race, and when to be doing what is the key to winning. And the only way to know that is to watch your opponents. To see proof of this, try playing solitare. With no pressure from opponents, you are virtually guaranteed to end with all the points in your deck.
That said, some of the expansions do have more in the way of traditional interaction than the base set does.
Intrigue adds cards which you gives the ability to pass Curse cards from your hand to other players, plus cards which force you to discard cards from your hand. So you could try a M:tG “burn” tactic on your opponents.
Seaside adds the Embargo tokens and cards. When you play the Embargo card, you put a token on a type of cards. Whoever takes that card will receive one curse card. Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from embargoing the Embargo cards. IIRC, there are also cards that let you steal copper cards.