Looking for recommendations

Hi everyone. I hope this is the right place to post. I'm looking for an ameritrash game (or games) for my bf and his gaming group. Here is some info:

No. of players: 5
Time: 2 hours max
Weight: They prefer lighter games. Somewhere about 2.5 on the bgg scale would be great but anything that doesn't have a *lot* of rules or is too fiddly. The easier it is to learn the better. It's better if there isn't a huge amount of iconography to learn.
Theme: I'd say they're open to most stuff.
Favourite games: They haven't played a lot and they like a mixture of ameritrash and euros. Betrayal Legacy is currently their favourite. They also like Dominion, Sheriff of Nottingham, Avalon, Champions of Midgard, Lords of Waterdeep and the Exit games.
Dislikes: BSG and Fury of Dracula didn't go down too well mainly because they are too long and also because they felt they were quite rule heavy. However they have said they'd try them again so they weren't complete misses. They like the concept of them and I suppose a lighter version of them would be perfect.

Games I'm considering:
Legendary Encounters: An Alien Deck Building Game (very interested in this but I've heard it's HARD and not recommended for 5 players)
The Others (maybe too heavy)
Wasteland Express Delivery Service (not recommended with 5, maybe too heavy)
Dark Moon (heard this could be seen as an upgraded version of Avalon?)
Dead Men Tell No Tales (another one I heard is HARD)
The Captain Is Dead
Maximum Apocalypse
Not Alone

Does anyone have any recommendations for me or have any thoughts on the games I listed?

Thank you very much for your help.

I should preface this by saying that I've played none of the games you mentioned. Feel free to ignore my recommendations below if they aren't what you you're looking for.

The two games that come to mind for me aren't actually AT games. But the distinction is increasingly meaningless. These two games have lots of interaction without a ton of rules.

El Grande - It looks really drab, but it's a very lean design. It pulls together lots of great conflict ideas into a very German design, and it recontextualizes conflict on maps in board games. It's great with 5 too, and it is thematic, though you have to squint.

Modern Art - Much more attractive and more thematic, but the open nature of the game does take a game or two to dominate well. Really sharp commentary on hype and tastemaking, and it's a great time as well.

Oh, and welcome to TWBG!

san il defanso wrote: I should preface this by saying that I've played none of the games you mentioned. Feel free to ignore my recommendations below if they aren't what you you're looking for.

The two games that come to mind for me aren't actually AT games. But the distinction is increasingly meaningless. These two games have lots of interaction without a ton of rules.

El Grande - It looks really drab, but it's a very lean design. It pulls together lots of great conflict ideas into a very German design, and it recontextualizes conflict on maps in board games. It's great with 5 too, and it is thematic, though you have to squint.

Modern Art - Much more attractive and more thematic, but the open nature of the game does take a game or two to dominate well. Really sharp commentary on hype and tastemaking, and it's a great time as well.

Oh, and welcome to TWBG!

Hi, thank you for the welcome

I hadn't actually thought of getting them a euro, mainly cos they do tend to lean towards more thematic games but I will check those 2 out (I've heard of them but never looked into them). Thanks for the recs!

Haven't played it, but does Battle for Rokugan do 5? I was just listening to Ding and Dent and was reminded of some fondness around here for that one.

Cosmic Encounter is an obvious one for this site w/5 and relatively light. It's in the running for consensus best game though it has never quite sparked for me.

Others that might seem off the wallish:
Railroad Tycoon/whatever it's called now
Sidereal Confluence

Cosmic Encounter is awesome, and it's at its best with 5 players. It's a little off-the-wall for some people, but in my experience it's got a pretty wide appeal. If stuff like Sheriff of Nottingham works for you, definitely consider it.

Wings for the Baron.

I will say Kemet and Cyclades. Both support 5 players well and both should finish in under 2 hours.

Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King which is the best Carcassonne game that isn't Carcassonne or Barenpark. Great Tile laying game of building an empire.

As Gary mentioned, Battle of Rokugan is good and supports 5 players and is rules lite.

A wild trick taking game that might interest them is Tournament at Camelot

My game nights are usually 5 players and the under 2 hours thing is something that is usually requested, so these are some of the ones that have worked well.
Welcome to TWBG and please hang around!

Oh, and of the ones you mentioned, I really like Dead Men Tell No Tales but it does tend to skew pretty hard and Wasteland Delivery Service is pretty rules intensive BUT there is a really good Watch It Played video that explains things really well but I don't think a 5 player game is going to come in under 2 hours on that one.

My first thought is Wiz-War with the 5th player expansion.

Also look at Spartacus.

Of the games that you listed, Wasteland Express Delivery Service is way too long and heavy for your group. Sure, it says 90 to 120 minutes on the box, but as if often the case, that only applies to experienced players.

My recommendations for 5 players who are looking for a lighter game of two hours or less, and who like both euros and ameritrash:

1. Sons of Anarchy. The theme will probably not appeal to them, but this is a worker placement game where the workers often fight. It is very interactive and has a neat but simple market mechanism. Eurogamers like the economics and the worker placement, while ameritrash players like the combat and setting. Smooth rules system, using design instead of fiddly chrome rules to express the setting.

2. Cosmic Encounter, for reasons mentioned above. I believe that the base game supports up to five players.

3. Battle for Rokugan. If a good game has meaningful decisions, Battle for Rokugan packs in nearly one meaningful decision per minute for the entire hour of play. Area control with facedown action tokens, plus special faction abilities and one-time advantages gained from controlling sections of the map.

If it's the same 5 guys typically, and they like Betrayal Legacy already, they'd probably like Risk Legacy too.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee, loads of replies overnight, thank you! Will try to respond...

Gary Sax wrote: Haven't played it, but does Battle for Rokugan do 5? I was just listening to Ding and Dent and was reminded of some fondness around here for that one.

Cosmic Encounter is an obvious one for this site w/5 and relatively light. It's in the running for consensus best game though it has never quite sparked for me.

Others that might seem off the wallish:
Railroad Tycoon/whatever it's called now
Sidereal Confluence

I actually had Battle For Rokugan on my list after watching Zee Garcia's video. I can't remember why it fell off. I'll need to read/watch some more on it. Cosmic Encounter is a game I've heard of for a long long time but have never checked it out (I'm mainly a euro girl) so I'll add that to my list to check out along with Railroad Tycoon and Sidereal Confluence. Thanks very much!

san il defanso wrote: Cosmic Encounter is awesome, and it's at its best with 5 players. It's a little off-the-wall for some people, but in my experience it's got a pretty wide appeal. If stuff like Sheriff of Nottingham works for you, definitely consider it.

Yeah Sheriff of Nottingham works for them really well though my bf said they're pretty much done with it now (played it too much). Will seek out Cosmic Encounter. Thanks!

Edit: I just asked my bf if he'd played Cosmic Encounter before and he has, a few times. Oops I didn't know. He says he likes it.

Sagrilarus wrote: Wings for the Baron.

Thanks. I'll check out how that plays. I've not head of it. I'll need to think if the theme will go down well.

WadeMonnig wrote: I will say Kemet and Cyclades. Both support 5 players well and both should finish in under 2 hours.

Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King which is the best Carcassonne game that isn't Carcassonne or Barenpark. Great Tile laying game of building an empire.

As Gary mentioned, Battle of Rokugan is good and supports 5 players and is rules lite.

A wild trick taking game that might interest them is Tournament at Camelot

My game nights are usually 5 players and the under 2 hours thing is something that is usually requested, so these are some of the ones that have worked well.
Welcome to TWBG and please hang around!

I was actually recommended Kemet and Cyclades before when I was looking for a 2 player hybrid kinda game. We never actually ended up going down that street. Are they both quite fighty? I'll need to check those out again for the purpose of a 5 player group this time. I actually think I'm being too choosy... cos I'm choosy lol but those guys will pretty much give anything a shot. I suppose I just want them to really enjoy it.

We have Isle of Skye aand play it 2p and love it. He's never taken it down to his group but he probably should. They do tend to lean towards more thematic games though or at least that's the impression I get. I'll check out Tournament at Camelot. Thanks a lot for your help and the welcome!

WadeMonnig wrote: Oh, and of the ones you mentioned, I really like Dead Men Tell No Tales but it does tend to skew pretty hard and Wasteland Delivery Service is pretty rules intensive BUT there is a really good Watch It Played video that explains things really well but I don't think a 5 player game is going to come in under 2 hours on that one.

Thanks for the info on those 2. I probably won't end up getting them.

hotseatgames wrote: My first thought is Wiz-War with the 5th player expansion.

Also look at Spartacus.

Wiz-War is another game I was recommended years ago (I'm pretty sure it was in here but the forum was different?) but never really looked into it properly. Again another for my list along with Spartacus, which I'd not heard of. Thank you very much.

A lot for me to check out now!

What would you recommend to someone who looooves BaHotH and Betrayal Legacy?

Thanks guys!

Jexik wrote: If it's the same 5 guys typically, and they like Betrayal Legacy already, they'd probably like Risk Legacy too.

Really?? Wow, I would never have thought of that. Thanks, will look it up.

Fair warning, Wiz-War is getting hard to find since FFG isn't reprinting it. It is a great game though. Definitely try it out if you get the chance.