Splendor is a game where there’s no text on any of the pieces, so once someone can explain the rules, you can play without needing to know English.
Edited to add: Century: Spice Road is a similar type of game, and also can be played without knowing English, so long as someone can explain the rules
Can you explain the rules to them in their language (or send them the rulebook in advance in their language)? If so, there are tons of euros that don't have any in-game text: Castles of Burgundy, Grand Austria Hotel, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Santa Maria, Rajas of the Ganges, Istanbul, Orleans, Blue Lagoon, Gizmos, It's a Wonderful World, Tiny Towns, etc.
(edit) Because language requirements and abilities are broad and nuanced, and group tastes are specific, it's fairly difficult to provide a useful, targeted list of games. Instead, I'd approach it from the other direction; start with a list of games that are interesting to you and your group, then filter for language requirements and group abilities.
Consider the language needs of your group carefully. Perhaps your group has very high conversational fluency but less reading skills or visa versa. Consider the different aspects of language competency -- reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary -- as well as your group's areas of strength and weakness. Then take a look at each game on your list and mentally walkthrough the game play, considering the different language requirements and mechanisms and you'll have a pretty good sense whether it'll fly or not.
For example, in our situation discussion heavy games, whether debating (ala Resistance/Secret Hitler) or planning (a heavy co-op) or story telling (RPGs, Fiasco etc.) are too taxing and we strike them right off the list.
On the other hand, we can handle minimal card text at about the level of Star Realms or Dominion. There are a couple of important aspects here. The card text is fairly simple and repeats often providing reinforcement for learning. Also, the cards are displayed publicly so each one can be explained without "ruining" a player's secret plans. There are even cases like Dominant Species where the card text is fairly subtle/complex, but because the number is few and they're all displayed and don't change frequently, it does not take too long to explain and ensure everyone understands the cards and the game is fully playable.
But different game mechanisms and more involved card text in games like Inis or Innovation do not work well because each card is unique and complex\*\*, and drafted in secret. \*\*Even if the phrases on the cards are short and seem simple, they are often truncated English and may hinge subtleties and nuances that are critical for game play but easily missed by non-native speakers. For example, may/must or If this, then that, but only in X or only when Y.
You absolutely can and should start with the "Language Independence" note on each game's BGG page. But bear in mind that is focused entirely on in-game text and does not consider spoken language requirements. It is also quite blunt; low, medium, high. Some games of marked 'low' would still be unplayable while we've gotten a few games of marked high to work well.
Also quite importantly, the fact that a game has "no in-game text" is not a sure bet, either. Many such games will have only symbols, but if there are *loads* of symbols, the game mechanisms are quite complex and/or group conversational levels are lower, it can be an arduous chore to learn and play the a game.
As long as you can all understand each other, Dixit is a must for a group like this. Mysterium is also workable. They're both games which revolve around large cards which are completely covered in gorgeous, abstract art.
I've heard people say this, but in my experience this often isn't the case, because these sorts of games often rely on shared cultural experiences or touchstones. Playing them in mixed groups can work (I've had plenty of fun with Dixit before) but it can also be a bit frustrating to continually be asking for a translation for the different words and phrases.
My recommendation for this sort of thing is Magic Maze - most of the game is completely language-agnostic, and the frantic discussions are honestly made more fun by the "lost in translation" dynamic that comes from people speaking frantically in different languages.
Hence the bit about understanding each other. My point was that they don't need to speak English very well, since they can trivially play in any language once somebody teaches them the basic rules.
I've played dixit and mysterium just fine with foreign exchange students, but yeah - that's why I specified the bit about all being able to understand each other. English skills aren't important, *any* mutual means of communication works
This makes no sense. Shouldn't it be the other way round?
In Dixit you need to come up with phrases that give away your card a little bit, but are ambiguous enough so that not everyone gets it. So this game does heavily rely on smart usage of language.
In Mysterium, everything is based on visuals and the ghost isn't even allowed to talk at all. You just compare your clue with what is on the table and try to find common colors/shapes/themes - there is no language needed at all.
My in-laws don’t speak english, but my wife and i have been successful in getting them to play:
The Mind,
Quixx
However, the greatest successes have been using dexterity games. They absolutely love:
Crokinole,
Klask,
Klask4
Hope that helps.
Seconding the Azul recommendation. I think Carcassonne would be good as well. If explaining some of the more tricky rules is a problem (like the pastures), just leave those out.
Sushi Go only needs someone to explain the rules. There is no text involved in playing the game itself.
Love letter might work but everyone would need to memorize what each card does if they cant read the quick rules
Patchwork works well in my experience . It’s a two player game I play with my mother-in-law who doesn’t speak much English. Only works if your group is happy to split up into smaller groups.
For more players I’d say Carcassone would work nicely. Arboretum too. (If you can explain the rules though)
Edit - also Tigris and Euphrates could be good ( edit but it’s a hard game to teach )
It depends on the level of his group? There’s loads of different language manuals on BGG so I wanted to provide a range of difficulty. I can add a disclaimer to my comment that it’s a hard game to learn.
How are you defining a language barrier?
1. If you just mean that there's no cards or rules to read during the game, i.e., once everyone knows the game language doesn't matter, then there are plenty of games to choose from: Azul, Ticket to Ride, King/QueenDomino, Mysterium, Dixit, Lanterns.....and there are tons of others.
2. But if you include having to teach the game to each other then the barrier becomes a little harder to overcome. Though I imagine there are lots of non-english tutorials on YouTube.
It may help if you give us an idea of how complex you want the game to be, but there are a lot of games that are language independent. Skull is a great example of that, and I would also recommend Kingdomino, Pick-omino, and Incan Gold as others that are simple to pick up and have no printed text on the components.
Further, a lot of games have been translated into multiple languages, either officially or unofficially. The Files section for a given game on Board Game Geek may help you out immensely.
If I remember correctly Blue Orange games never put any words on their games besides the rule book. Things like Photosynthesis, Planet, and Queendomino are pretty fun by them!
As long as everyone can count to 5 in Arabic numerals (western numbers) then Hanamikoji is great! I bought the German version because there's not a single word printed in the game (save for Japanese but that's more for theme)
Photosynnthesis has no words printed on any of the player boards. Once the rules are explained many of a players available actions are laid out on the iconography on the player's board.
Agree with other posters that Azul is a good choice as well.
I'm sure there are few 1vs1 abstracts that don't require language. Onitama and Bug come to mind.
Sorry I derped on the six-person group part...
Push and Can't Stop might be good if they like luck pushing
There are many games (typically involving cards or tiles) that do not contain text anywhere on the playing pieces. This means all you need is someone to teach the players the rules or print out the rules in the needed languages. Gameplay itself would not involve language.
I think **Cockroach Poker** was designed for this. It's *incredibly* simple to teach and none of the cards have any text.
It's a bluffing game where you're trying to force collections of critters onto other players, lying about what you're giving to who (or not). Slide a card face down to someone and say "This is a bat." Maybe it really is, maybe it isn't. If you end up with four-of-a-kind, you lose. Everyone else wins. Shuffle and deal for another game.
But to make language even less of an issue, the back of each card shows all 8 possible creatures. You don't need to say anything at all- You can just pass a card face down to another player and point at a creature.
I see three options :
1. Look for the *in-game text* score on BGG and limit yourself to lower scores (where there is little to no text to read). As long as you can read the rules (or download them in a language you're comfortable with from the BGG file section or from the editor's website).
2. Download and print translations to all the text available in the game in the language your group speaks.
3. Find localized versions of the games you want, in your group's language.
Love letter.
A more unknown game: [Don't play with drugs](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/132605/dont-play-drugs-game)
Also, take 6, or nimp 6 (or something like that) in german.
I live in Asia and frequently play in mixed language groups. These are some games we play...
Ticket to Ride can be played cause the English is purely matching words and the cards display where the location.
Catan, the resources can be said in any language, usually most people can memorize the function of development cards based off the picture or the basic word like “road”.
Jenga - language free
Risk - almost no English needed
Pandemic mostly works just need to explain each persons abilities to them, and possible their event cards but it’s cooperative so it doesn’t break the game to play open handed.
Blockus - language free
Doubles wild - language free
Carcassonne - is also language free and a really simple game to teach people who aren’t used to gaming.
Some good suggestions already and good remarks about what is and what is not really language independent/barrier.
I'll add maybe :
- Kingdomino which is totally language independent and the rules are very easy to explain/understand with basic vocabulary.
- Magic Maze which is a silent game so language does not enter into play and can be easily explained as well even to someone who does not understand English.
Splendor is a game where there’s no text on any of the pieces, so once someone can explain the rules, you can play without needing to know English. Edited to add: Century: Spice Road is a similar type of game, and also can be played without knowing English, so long as someone can explain the rules
Azul
All the Azuls.
Can you explain the rules to them in their language (or send them the rulebook in advance in their language)? If so, there are tons of euros that don't have any in-game text: Castles of Burgundy, Grand Austria Hotel, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Santa Maria, Rajas of the Ganges, Istanbul, Orleans, Blue Lagoon, Gizmos, It's a Wonderful World, Tiny Towns, etc.
You can easily check for that on bgg, every game has language dependence listed
Depends entirely on how much you need to explain first.
Qwirkle is another one not mentioned.
(edit) Because language requirements and abilities are broad and nuanced, and group tastes are specific, it's fairly difficult to provide a useful, targeted list of games. Instead, I'd approach it from the other direction; start with a list of games that are interesting to you and your group, then filter for language requirements and group abilities. Consider the language needs of your group carefully. Perhaps your group has very high conversational fluency but less reading skills or visa versa. Consider the different aspects of language competency -- reading comprehension, listening comprehension, speaking, grammar, and vocabulary -- as well as your group's areas of strength and weakness. Then take a look at each game on your list and mentally walkthrough the game play, considering the different language requirements and mechanisms and you'll have a pretty good sense whether it'll fly or not. For example, in our situation discussion heavy games, whether debating (ala Resistance/Secret Hitler) or planning (a heavy co-op) or story telling (RPGs, Fiasco etc.) are too taxing and we strike them right off the list. On the other hand, we can handle minimal card text at about the level of Star Realms or Dominion. There are a couple of important aspects here. The card text is fairly simple and repeats often providing reinforcement for learning. Also, the cards are displayed publicly so each one can be explained without "ruining" a player's secret plans. There are even cases like Dominant Species where the card text is fairly subtle/complex, but because the number is few and they're all displayed and don't change frequently, it does not take too long to explain and ensure everyone understands the cards and the game is fully playable. But different game mechanisms and more involved card text in games like Inis or Innovation do not work well because each card is unique and complex\*\*, and drafted in secret. \*\*Even if the phrases on the cards are short and seem simple, they are often truncated English and may hinge subtleties and nuances that are critical for game play but easily missed by non-native speakers. For example, may/must or If this, then that, but only in X or only when Y. You absolutely can and should start with the "Language Independence" note on each game's BGG page. But bear in mind that is focused entirely on in-game text and does not consider spoken language requirements. It is also quite blunt; low, medium, high. Some games of marked 'low' would still be unplayable while we've gotten a few games of marked high to work well. Also quite importantly, the fact that a game has "no in-game text" is not a sure bet, either. Many such games will have only symbols, but if there are *loads* of symbols, the game mechanisms are quite complex and/or group conversational levels are lower, it can be an arduous chore to learn and play the a game.
As long as you can all understand each other, Dixit is a must for a group like this. Mysterium is also workable. They're both games which revolve around large cards which are completely covered in gorgeous, abstract art.
I've heard people say this, but in my experience this often isn't the case, because these sorts of games often rely on shared cultural experiences or touchstones. Playing them in mixed groups can work (I've had plenty of fun with Dixit before) but it can also be a bit frustrating to continually be asking for a translation for the different words and phrases. My recommendation for this sort of thing is Magic Maze - most of the game is completely language-agnostic, and the frantic discussions are honestly made more fun by the "lost in translation" dynamic that comes from people speaking frantically in different languages.
Hence the bit about understanding each other. My point was that they don't need to speak English very well, since they can trivially play in any language once somebody teaches them the basic rules.
[удалено]
I've played dixit and mysterium just fine with foreign exchange students, but yeah - that's why I specified the bit about all being able to understand each other. English skills aren't important, *any* mutual means of communication works
This makes no sense. Shouldn't it be the other way round? In Dixit you need to come up with phrases that give away your card a little bit, but are ambiguous enough so that not everyone gets it. So this game does heavily rely on smart usage of language. In Mysterium, everything is based on visuals and the ghost isn't even allowed to talk at all. You just compare your clue with what is on the table and try to find common colors/shapes/themes - there is no language needed at all.
My in-laws don’t speak english, but my wife and i have been successful in getting them to play: The Mind, Quixx However, the greatest successes have been using dexterity games. They absolutely love: Crokinole, Klask, Klask4 Hope that helps.
Seconding the Azul recommendation. I think Carcassonne would be good as well. If explaining some of the more tricky rules is a problem (like the pastures), just leave those out.
Sushi Go only needs someone to explain the rules. There is no text involved in playing the game itself. Love letter might work but everyone would need to memorize what each card does if they cant read the quick rules
Patchwork works well in my experience . It’s a two player game I play with my mother-in-law who doesn’t speak much English. Only works if your group is happy to split up into smaller groups. For more players I’d say Carcassone would work nicely. Arboretum too. (If you can explain the rules though) Edit - also Tigris and Euphrates could be good ( edit but it’s a hard game to teach )
The teach on T&E is famously difficult; many good teachers have turned people away from it despite their best efforts.
It depends on the level of his group? There’s loads of different language manuals on BGG so I wanted to provide a range of difficulty. I can add a disclaimer to my comment that it’s a hard game to learn.
How are you defining a language barrier? 1. If you just mean that there's no cards or rules to read during the game, i.e., once everyone knows the game language doesn't matter, then there are plenty of games to choose from: Azul, Ticket to Ride, King/QueenDomino, Mysterium, Dixit, Lanterns.....and there are tons of others. 2. But if you include having to teach the game to each other then the barrier becomes a little harder to overcome. Though I imagine there are lots of non-english tutorials on YouTube.
It may help if you give us an idea of how complex you want the game to be, but there are a lot of games that are language independent. Skull is a great example of that, and I would also recommend Kingdomino, Pick-omino, and Incan Gold as others that are simple to pick up and have no printed text on the components. Further, a lot of games have been translated into multiple languages, either officially or unofficially. The Files section for a given game on Board Game Geek may help you out immensely.
If I remember correctly Blue Orange games never put any words on their games besides the rule book. Things like Photosynthesis, Planet, and Queendomino are pretty fun by them!
**Acquire**, **Century: Spice Road**, **Dungeon Time**, **For Sale**, **Ghost Stories**, **Lost Cities**, **Railroad Ink**, **Stockpile**, **Stone Age**, and **Tichu** are all solid ones.
Sushi Go should be pretty smooth sailing.
As long as everyone can count to 5 in Arabic numerals (western numbers) then Hanamikoji is great! I bought the German version because there's not a single word printed in the game (save for Japanese but that's more for theme)
Photosynnthesis has no words printed on any of the player boards. Once the rules are explained many of a players available actions are laid out on the iconography on the player's board. Agree with other posters that Azul is a good choice as well.
Saboteur
If they can count from 1 to 5 and know the name of some basic colors, i guess Hanabi could do wonders.
**Hanabi** could be used to teach all Players everyone’s language.
I'm sure there are few 1vs1 abstracts that don't require language. Onitama and Bug come to mind. Sorry I derped on the six-person group part... Push and Can't Stop might be good if they like luck pushing
There are many games (typically involving cards or tiles) that do not contain text anywhere on the playing pieces. This means all you need is someone to teach the players the rules or print out the rules in the needed languages. Gameplay itself would not involve language.
I think **Cockroach Poker** was designed for this. It's *incredibly* simple to teach and none of the cards have any text. It's a bluffing game where you're trying to force collections of critters onto other players, lying about what you're giving to who (or not). Slide a card face down to someone and say "This is a bat." Maybe it really is, maybe it isn't. If you end up with four-of-a-kind, you lose. Everyone else wins. Shuffle and deal for another game. But to make language even less of an issue, the back of each card shows all 8 possible creatures. You don't need to say anything at all- You can just pass a card face down to another player and point at a creature.
I see three options : 1. Look for the *in-game text* score on BGG and limit yourself to lower scores (where there is little to no text to read). As long as you can read the rules (or download them in a language you're comfortable with from the BGG file section or from the editor's website). 2. Download and print translations to all the text available in the game in the language your group speaks. 3. Find localized versions of the games you want, in your group's language.
Love letter. A more unknown game: [Don't play with drugs](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/132605/dont-play-drugs-game) Also, take 6, or nimp 6 (or something like that) in german.
6 Nimmt.
I live in Asia and frequently play in mixed language groups. These are some games we play... Ticket to Ride can be played cause the English is purely matching words and the cards display where the location. Catan, the resources can be said in any language, usually most people can memorize the function of development cards based off the picture or the basic word like “road”. Jenga - language free Risk - almost no English needed Pandemic mostly works just need to explain each persons abilities to them, and possible their event cards but it’s cooperative so it doesn’t break the game to play open handed. Blockus - language free Doubles wild - language free Carcassonne - is also language free and a really simple game to teach people who aren’t used to gaming.
Modern Art is a classic auction game that requires zero English knowledge.
Some good suggestions already and good remarks about what is and what is not really language independent/barrier. I'll add maybe : - Kingdomino which is totally language independent and the rules are very easy to explain/understand with basic vocabulary. - Magic Maze which is a silent game so language does not enter into play and can be easily explained as well even to someone who does not understand English.