NOTICE!!!! This is a really long post, that I had to split into 2 Parts!
I’ve read the other topic about games on this forum and I loved it. But since I saw that the last reply was quite some time ago i thought of writing a new thread with my top 15 Board games for hostels. I owned a boardgame shop once and I love hostels, so I pretty much know what hostels need and which games can offer that. I would also like to hear about which games you guys use and how they do their job.
I have chosen the below top 15 games according to: How easy it is to learn, Number of players, Level of Interactions, Fun Factor, Randomness Factor and Time needed to play a game.
15. Mastermind . This game is a 2 player game. Fun and simple. Anybody can learn to play this game in less than 2 min. This game got low in the top since its a bit too easy, its not challanging enough for me at least. Some people have a blast playing this, thats why its in the top. Game time: 10-15 min, the game has no written text.
14. Connect 4 . This game is a real no brainer. Easy, Fun and can be challanging, the only downside is thats only a 2 player game. Game time: 10-15 min, the game has no written text.
13. Battleboats. This game made it in here because of its popularity. Everybody knows how to play this game and in case he is an exception he can learn it in less than 1 min. This game is fun and exciting, again the only downside is that its only a 2 player game and it does not encourage people to socialize. Game time: 10-30 min, the game has no written text.
12. Rummy. Up to 4-player game, Fun to play, easy to learn and also has a huge popularity. This game got low in the top because of its random factor which can frustrate certain people, also although it is a 4 player game it does not encourage socializing as much as other games are. Game time: 20-50 min
11. Cards + Poker Chips. Now cards are really needed in a hostel. You can play a lot of well known games from poker to whist and most of those games can be played by 4+ people. Also most of the card games are quite good as Icebrakers. Game time: 10 min – a couple of hours
10. Chess. This game is probably the most popular game ever. Everybody knows it! A great game of Intelect. The only problem with this game is that most of the people get intimidated by it or some claim it to be too old fashioned. Another big disadvantage is the number of players and the fact that you need silence to concentrate on your next moves, which is rarely found in a hostel. Game time: 20min - 2 hours.
9. Through the Desert. This game is a up to 5 player strategy game. Really fun, easy to learn and makes the people interact quite a bit. The only downside of this game is that it doesn’t have that big of a popularity. Game time: 20- 40 min, the game has no written text.
8. Carcasonne. This game is a great tool for any hostel! Its a up to 5 player family game, easy to learn, fun to play and it comes in so many versions that you can easily buy one that fits your hostel theme! Only drawback is that its a bit random which can frustrate some of your guests. Game time: 20-40 min, the game has no written text.
7. Settlers of Catan. This game is almost perfect. A up to 4 player game that encourages as much interaction as possible, really fun to play, not to mention that it is very easy to learn. This game is also quite popular in europe and can create addiction. Its major drawback is the fact that its played with dice, which adds an extreme amount of randomness. Game time: 20min – 1 hour. The game has written text, I suggest you buy it in English.
6. Twister. This game has a great popularity, its extremly easy to learn, and its a huge amount of fun. Sadly you need a lot of place to play this game and people have to be in a party mood to start playing it. Most of the people must already know eachother in order to play this game. THIS GAME IS NOT AN ICEBRAKER. Do not buy it for that purpouse. Game time: 30 min- ????, the game has no written text.
5. Ticket to Ride. This game is really interesting. Its a up to 5-player game, you can learn to play it in less then 3 minutes and it encourages guests to interact. Another helpful thing about this game is that it comes in many different versions just like carcasonne and you can buy one to fit your part of the world and add to your hostel character. 30-50min. The game has written text, I suggest you buy it in English.
4. Shadows over Camelot. What game is better for socializing then a Co-op game? This is a fun game to play where your guests have to work together angainst the game! its a up to 7 player game, it takes you 10 min to learn to play the game and it is a lot of fun, actually this game can get so fun that people just don’t want to stop playing it! The only downside of this game is that once you play this game often enough you will figure the one thing you have to do to win every time, but that is not a real problem in a hostel. Game time: 1 hour- 1hour and 30 min. The game has written text, I suggest you buy it in English.
3. Citadel. A up to 7 player game that highly encourages your guests to interact. Its a strategy bluff game which makes it really interesting. Most of the people that play this game fall in love with it, yet its not that addictive. Its only drawback is that it takes 15 min to learn to play it. Game time: 20-50 min. The game has written text, I suggest you buy it in English.
2. Saboteur. This game is WOW! Its a fun awsome game that you can play with up to 10 people! This game is a Bluff Co-op game, as in: there are two sides, the good guys and the traitors. You do not know who the traitors are so you have to interact to find out. This game is really easy to learn , Extremely fun and a great Icebraker! If you want an awsome game for your hostel BUY THIS GAME! Game time: 15-30 min, the game has no written text.
1. Jenga. This is the PERFECT hostel game. Its extremly easy to learn, its heaps amounts of fun, and most important of them all, its the best Icebraker I have ever seen. All the hostels should have this game! Rules are so easy that they are intuitive, its even capable of Breaking the ice in case there is Laptop invasion in your common room (worst thing that can happen for your fun hostel atmosphere) Game time: 1-30min, the game has no written text.
13 years
We're big fans of Settlers, but the top game on our shelf is Cranium. Combination of Pictionary, charades, trivial pursuit, and karaoke... At first glance it seems like it might not be good for non-native English speakers, but if you set up the teams fairly it works out. Lots of fun!
13 years
General advice:
I know some of you have noticed that risk and monopoly are not in my top. Thats because Risk and Monopoly are probably the worst boardgames out there! DO NOT BUY RISK AND MONOPOLY FOR YOUR HOSTEL! Both of the games stretch for ages!! Both games use a a basic mechanic, the Dice, which is the worst type of machanic for a boardgame. The randomness of the Dice is unpredictable. This can cause some frustrations with your guests, nobody wants that. The more dice a game has the further you should stay away from. Try and search games that have no dice. Card games are great, decision based boardgames with card generated randomness are awsome, Co-op games are a blast! But whatever you do stay away from Monopoly and Risk or any other dice based game!
I recomend to set the boardgames somewhere where everybody can see them, but high enough that they would need to ask the receptionist to hand them the game or at least so that the receptionist will notice if they try and get a game off.
I also recomend that the receptionists know how to play all games available and that they are the ones initiating the games. Example: Common room is full of gloomy/bored people that don’t know what to do on a rainy day. To avoid people getting on the internet, which is a hostel mood killer, he can easily pick the jenga game and invite everybody to play. Jenga is easy enough so that everybody can play and it is a good enough game that it leaves people wanting to play games some more. After finishing a couple of jenga games, the receptionist can easily encourge guests to pick other games to play. In case they are interested in a game they don’t know how to play, the receptionist NEEDS to be able to explain the game and give them a couple of short examples. If games are short like saboteur, he can play a round or 2 with your guests.
The 2 Golden Rules for Boardgames:
1.) No drinks of anykind around the boardgame. Not above it nor on the same height. If somebody wants to have a beer or juice or whatever, he needs to set it on a different table or on the floor.
2.) No Food and No greasy snacks around the Boardgame.
These 2 rules are so that your boardgames will last longer! You do not want people spilling drinks on them or smeering them. If you apply this rule, the life of a boardgame can go up to an extra 1 year of usage even in a hostel enviorment!
Boardgames can do miracles for your Fun and Staff rating! A receptionist that always makes sure that people don’t get bored and encourages them to make new friends is a great thing, but boardgames are part of his tools to do that.
What about Videogames?
I personaly am against Videogames in hostels. I’m basicly against any kind of TV related activities since TV’s destroy the hostel vibe. BUT if you guys want to buy or already have a videogame, here are some hints :
Playstation 3: Buy Singstar, its basicly Karaoke. If you combine it with a couple of shots it can turn in a great party starter. Other games that I would recomend would be any fighter games you can get (ex: Soulcalibour 4, Tekken 6, etc) But don’t buy too many games for your PS3 since its not healthy for you buget nor for the hostel.
Nintendo Wii: nintendo wii has a couple of acceptable games for hostels since you can have up to 4 people playing them. I would suggest you get for your Wii the Mario Party games, Super Mario Bro Brawl, Mario Kart and wii sports.
Xbox360: Get fighters and some interactive games just like with wii and PS3.
A big downside with Videogames is that the controllers get smashed and break easy, so if you guys want to buy a videogame for you hostel take in consideration that you will have to buy new sets of controllers almost every 2 months.
If you guys got any suggestions, please let’s discuss them here. Tell us what works for you and what doesn’t.
If you guys are interested in any other boardgames visit boardgamegeek.com and search for abstract and family games.
13 years
I actually like to have monopoly around as you have the Special Game for almost every town and I like to see people walking around town while they are sitting in the lounge playing. this way the monopoly is a bit of "sightseeing" of the places where you are.
or are the "Towns Specials" only a german invention? anywhere - here you have the berlin-, munich-, hamburg-, frankfurt- or even osnabrueck-monopoly with pics of their main stations, castles, historic sites and streetnames.
I like it and my guests do too!
13 years
DO NOT BUY RISK AND MONOPOLY FOR YOUR HOSTEL! Both of the games stretch for ages!! Both games use a a basic mechanic, the Dice, which is the worst type of machanic for a boardgame. The randomness of the Dice is unpredictable. This can cause some frustrations with your guests, nobody wants that. The more dice a game has the further you should stay away from. Try and search games that have no dice. Card games are great, decision based boardgames with card generated randomness are awsome, Co-op games are a blast! But whatever you do stay away from Monopoly and Risk or any other dice based game!
Games that take forever to play might not be the worst thing for the hostel, especially if you sell drinks. "Are you guys ready for another round?"
I like the randomness of dice games. It levels the playing field because everyone can roll good numbers or bad ones. With those games the new guy who has never played before has just as much chance as the more experienced players. Because of that he might feel more comfortable joining in, which is good for your sociability. Games that rely solely on strategy may make some people feel intimidated or excluded if they don’t already know how to play.
I also recomend that the receptionists know how to play all games available and that they are the ones initiating the games. Example: Common room is full of gloomy/bored people that don’t know what to do on a rainy day. To avoid people getting on the internet, which is a hostel mood killer, he can easily pick the jenga game and invite everybody to play. Jenga is easy enough so that everybody can play and it is a good enough game that it leaves people wanting to play games some more. After finishing a couple of jenga games, the receptionist can easily encourge guests to pick other games to play. In case they are interested in a game they don’t know how to play, the receptionist NEEDS to be able to explain the game and give them a couple of short examples. If games are short like saboteur, he can play a round or 2 with your guests.
Excellent point! There will frequently be someone who doesn't know how to play, and it's great to have a person who will always be there to explain the game. Sometimes players from different areas know different rules for the same game, so the receptionist's explanation can serve as the official House Rules to settle any disputes.
13 years
I love the idea of boardgames. I've been doing a lot of reading here to get inspiration for how I want my hostel to be when I finally open it, and boardgames were up on the list of things to have available. Definately agree that the staff should know how to play, house rules all the way, the last thing you want is arguements! A couple of ones I'd thought of would have been UNO (a card game) and Scrabble? However I guess the worry would be the possibility of small pieces going missing!
13 years
Does Scrabble exist in other languages than English? In German, for example, you would need quite a few extra letters to cater for the umlauted vowels. In Croatian and Czech, there's quite a lot of accented letters.
13 years
I'm sure you can get it in other languages? I think I've seen it in a toy store in Berlin. I guess it would be hard though because it depends what language people speak, hmmm I hadn't thought about that!
13 years
Does Scrabble exist in other languages than English? In German, for example, you would need quite a few extra letters to cater for the umlauted vowels. In Croatian and Czech, there's quite a lot of accented letters.
There's a Wikipedia page about that... :)
13 years
I played Scrabble as a child in romanian. Though for my Hostel I would chouse Scrable in english becasue that's the language in which most of the guests communicate.:P
Related Pages
Log in to join discussion