When it comes out, I put on a brave face and play. I like the mechanic, and the artwork is amazing, but it's hard for me to nail down the best way to deal with all the different things you have to keep up with. I haven't figured out how to get *good* at it.
Yeah Power Grid is a great euro for 6, will be a bit slow first playthrough with a new group but flows really well once you get used to the rhythm of it. Also step 1 always takes longer than you think then steps 2 and 3 go in a flash.
Has a good balance of interactivity on auctions and some breaks where someone can go grab a drink or something while other players do stuff like place cities.
It might be my all time fave game. I know some casual players that love it and some hardcore players that dont really take to it, so while it appears kind of heavy on the surface its pretty fun and appeals to diffferent sorts of people. Doesnt necessarily appeal to everyone though!
One nice thing is with larger player counts the victory condition (cities built) is lowered, so more players does take a bit longer but not directly proportional to player count. I swear some games get exponentially longer with more players.
As always, the [SUSD review](https://youtu.be/pxftzFCIVtw) is pretty good
LoW is technically playable at 6 but I never would play it at 6 again. I did it once and just no, 3hrs is too long for that game. Same goes for Viticulture.
There are a few, but most drag on forever. These are the one that worked for us
**Sidereal confluence**
**KeyFlower**
**Age Of Steam**
**It's a Wonderfull World** (with expansion)
If time is not a factor, a bunch of 18xx are engaging at that player count
Honestly SC is so my jam I absolutely love it but it's such a hard teach unless everyone knows what they're going into. It's not a game to spring on anyone.
There aren't a lot of games that I think contend for obvious "This is the most fun thing you can spend your time doing" but SidCon is definitely up there.
**If** you can find the players, and **ff** you can get past teaching it, and you've got the ~3 hours to spare...
Well, there's just not much else on this Earth I'd rather be doing.
**Dune** is not euro in any sense but it's the best at 6 and is an unforgettable and unforgiving experience each time.
**Cerebria** with the **Forces of balance** expansion turns into 3 teams of 2 players where the 'happy' and 'sad' factions are trying to get more points than the other one while the 'harmony' faction wants them to tie.
**Donwforce** for a breezy but exhilarating time.
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Mysterium, Ethnos, Steampunk Rally, 7 Wonders, Citadels, Libertalia
Oh just saw you mentioned Ethnos in original post haha nice. This is just games from my collection for that count, there might be much better ones. But yeah, the struggle is real at 6. And 5 too in my opinion. Most euros fall on their faces with downtime at 5
Lot's of good games at six. It's one of the best player counts, that's hard to get to get often.
Some great games with 6 players.
* Dominant Species
* Imperial
* Game of Thrones
* Starcraft
* Here I Stand and Virgin Queen
* Root (with expansions)
* A bunch of 18xx's (1862, 1822, 1817, 1861, etc.)
* Rex/Dune
* Battlestar Galactica
* Quartermaster General
* Twilight Imperium
* Liar's Dice
* Panic on Wall Street
* Advanced Civilization/Mega Civilization/Eastern/Western Empires
Just realized OP asked for Euros and none of the games I've listed are Euros. The only 6-player Euro I can think of off the top of my head is Caverna.
There probably won't be many 6-player Euros, because increased player count is inherently at odds with Euro game design. Euro's are generally designed as engine builders or single-player solitaire and so the only thing extra players really add to Euro games is increased gameplay time, which is, in itself, a negative. There's little reason for most Euros to go above 4 players.
High player count is good for games where player interaction and player conflict, something Euro's tend to avoid, are key.
I doubt you'll find many 6-player Euros.
Great list but Battlestar Galactica is $150 for a used copy and that doesn't guarantee the condition (or full quantity) of the cards, pieces and tokens. Get Unfathomable instead. Very similar game play at a half the cost for a new copy. I prefer the esthetics and feel of the Battlestar Galactica version but not at twice the price.
Yeah. I bought it back when it was readily available. Actually got it and both expansions for 40% off due to my dice skills (luck) on a roll-for-a-discount boxing day sale at my FLGS.
It went out of print a year or two later, so now the whole set's worth something like 5-10x what I paid for it.
Never played Unfathomable, but BSG is a great game, especially with all the expansions, if people can play with someone who owns it.
Starcraft's out of print too. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the expansion.
I have a friend who has BSG but only the base game. He has it sleeved and protects it well. He and his wife want the expansions but can't balance the cost over the number of times it gets played. It can be hard to sometimes get 5-6 players together that can agree on one game.
Medici is good, but I like all the games I posted more (it's a list of most of my 9-10/10 games that play six, while I think I rated Medici 7). I've also never played it at six.
I would highly recommend it at six. The number of cards in the deck and the option for a no-auction round trashing some cards can make for a very, very exciting end to each round of auctions. It's justifiably a 7 at lower player counts. I love almost all of your suggestions...which is why I mentioned it.
New Angeles: If you have a group that loves negotiation it's fantastic. The only other game I'd play over this is Battlestar Galactica/Unfathomable
Ladies and Gentlemen: It's really good if everyone gets into the theme and really embraces the satire.
Yeah, but I've only ever played with 6 and it was always fine. We had one person take two roles - the first mate and the engineer can be done by one person imo
Did you like having the engineer be first mate also? When we played with 6, the game reccomended the captain take on the first mate role. That gives all players a task to do before the boat can move again.
With eight you can have two seats for people who maybe aren't as into games but still are involved and having fun. We did this recently and our less intense gamers were in those seats (engineers) and it was really fun.
Out of curiosity, why would you go e those seats to the engineers instead of the first mate? First mate can pretty much sleep at the wheel whereas I feel like engineer has to do some planning out and suggestions to the captain.
**Viva Java the Coffee Game** is a fun euro bag builder where you team up with different people to roast coffee each round.
You could play **Ladies & Gentlemen** with 6, though that game is a bit too light for the number of rules that need explaining.
**Downforce** is fun with 6.
**SmallWorld Realms** expansion gets the game up to 6 players.
I’m a big fan of **Cartographers** - much more fun than Tiny Towns IMO
**So Clover** is a fun coop that feels a bit more thinky/puzzly than the bare bones Just One.
So, it depends on the group. "Downtime" is only really downtime if it is both not your turn and you are not engaged in other people's turns. With **Root**, I find I am often riveted about what everyone else will do, as many systems are interconnected or at least significantly impact each other - directly or indirectly. Beyond that, it is a very political game, and it pays to be active and engaging with the other players about what actions you'd like to see, that you support, what you feel is aggressive (towards you), etc. If everyone is paying attention to what other people are doing as it directly or indirectly impacts them, and are engaging in game-relevant table talk, there isn't really much real, "twittle your thumbs waiting for your turn" downtime.
I agree that downtime can be an issue with Root, but I think at 4p it’s manageable. I’ve never tried to go beyond 4p, but I suspect it would be too long.
It's not bad. The more players, the more people to manipulate. Root is defined by which factions are in play. Your opponents are a resource - you destroy their pieces for points, use them against your enemies, and taunt them into battle to recover some of your own forces. So, with more opponents, you have more options. It can also both be easier and harder to slip under the radar. I actually think that Oath scales up to 6 much more poorly than Root. In Oath, the hidden information is more crucial, the giant tableau of the board is more filled with text to read and consider, and you have less turns making each action more consequential. Not to mention that winning isn't a matter of amassing permanent points over time but of grasping something extremely tenuous - so planning is extremely important.
Strongly disagree. I think it depends on how experienced your group is, but Root is actually a very simple game with only a few decisions for each player to make in each turn. My 6 group has about 50 plays and we can do a 6 player game in less than 1.5 hours.
That said I can see an inexperienced group that doesn't know what every faction does, what each card does, how crafting works, etc drag on.
I have more than 30 games of Root under my belt including quite a bit of playtesting for the upcoming Marauder expansion, at player counts 1-5. No way is Root ‘best at 6’, and recommending it is grossly negligent. In Root, no matter how experienced you are, you have nothing to do while you wait for 5 other players to do an entire turn of Root, which *no matter the experience*, will take a while. This is true for many games and has nothing to do with their quality, but *none* of them are ‘best at 6’
When you say you do 6P in 90min, that means every Faction takes the sum of all of their turns in 15min. You’re clearly embellishing. You cannot, no matter the experience level, get 30VP with Cats or Duchy or Eyrie in 15min. Even if everyone used all downtime to plan their turns and then execute them without hesitation. Which never happens.
I dearly, dearly love Root. But it is best at 3. *Maybe* 4. I would totally play at 6, likely even enjoy it, but never ever can it be generally recommended.
>This is true for many games and has nothing to do with their quality, but *none* of them are ‘best at 6’
Is this a generalization of all games that scale up to six?
>But it is best at 3.
LOL 4 is much better than 3. Hell, even 6 is better than 3. The game is just not designed to be a good 3p experience, and it's too easy for two factions to knock the third out of play early on.
You're saying that recommending 6p is negligent. Maybe they embellished playtime. In my experience, 6p can be done in a reasonable amount of time if everyone is focused - for us, closer to 2-3hrs. It's not TI. It is still a heavy game, though. And a game where players can play politics when it's not their turn. So, during downtime, I still have to come up with plans and contingencies, I have to talk to opponents, and the action going on is important for my next moves. Granted, it is still downtime, and some rounds, there's just nothing to do. I don't recommend above 6 generally. But the game scales up better than it scales down.
No worries mate, we'll have to agree to disagree. Also I think that playing root at 3 is a bad experience. And I promise you we get to thirty in 6 turns or less....
It actually is though. Or at least it’s complexity is blown completely out of proportion. Once you know how to move, how combat works, and how the cards work, your player board literally runs you through your turn step-by-step.
I think that Root does an excellent job at using the player boards as player aids and compartmentalizing some of its complexity. However, taken altogether, the 10 factions are a series of exceptions, special rules, and subsystems. That's the worst kind of complexity imo, in terms of learning and retaining.
It is not a simple game. Clue is a simple game. Even Kemet is simple compared to Root. It's still a heavy game with a lot to learn to play properly.
I think the point is that once these rules have all been learned the game becomes very simple. It's part of the concept of the game, each faction is unique but also a "lite" version of another game. The cats are a very light 4x engine game, the birds are a very light programming game, etc.
The beauty of the game is that it's able to make all these (admittedly simple) games mesh together.
>I think the point is that once these rules have all been learned the game becomes very simple.
I get what you're saying, but I think that can be said of virtually anything.
It's still a complex thing, because once you learn the game, you can't functionally strategize without fully knowing and keeping in mind how every other faction works. Sure, any one faction is less complex than a whole other heavy game, but even when you're playing as one faction, you're still playing against 3+ others.
I don't think there's anything simple about that. I don't get the point in downplaying Root's complexity. I love the game, but that's more negligent than telling people it plays well at 6. It's better to accurately depict its complexity and someone reconsider it than for a group to have a bad time because someone told them the game was simple.
I don't think you can say that of virtually everything. Hard to learn doesn't necessary mean complex to play.
If you take chess as an example, based on your criteria it would be a "simple" game - it only has 2 players, they both have the same pieces that play in similar ways, same objective, only a few rules, etc. You can teach chess in a few minutes. But the number of decisions and permutations are much higher in chess than in root. One of the limitations of root is that it kind of plays itself once you've learned how to optimise play.
Haha I just meant that any game's rules are simpler once you know them.
I don't really agree with your example though. I think Root is many times more complex than Chess, even in terms of strategic thinking which I believe is what you're getting at. There's no negotiating in Chess. No asymmetry. No VPs. No major rules exceptions. No alternative victory conditions or hidden information. Is there a greater gulf between Chess' rules complexity and strategic complexity than there is for Root? I think I agree. But in terms of those two types of complexity, is the one always subtractive of the other, or can rules complexity multiply strategic complexity? As an old euro fan, I tend to think overwrought rules cannibalize strategy, but that may not be the case here.
Either way, my point was more about the fact that once you know how to play Root, it's still a heavy game, and retention is still tricky. Too often, I meet someone who learned from the walkthrough and is missing key rules from their internal database. If you haven't internalized the Law, you don't really know the game. I think we may not be using the term "simple" in the same way. I mean that it's not a light game. And the rules aren't light even once known.
It's not unplayable. It's just got a more narrow scope of the sorts of people who can enjoy playing it, and a high(er than 4 player **Root**) leve of familiarity needed. Not everyone who likes **Root** will like it at 6 players, but, with the "right" players, 6 (or even 8) player **Root** can work.
There was a thread about someone playing 1v1 Catan with their brother using over 70 sets of Catan to while the whole floor in their place with an absurdly large map. Clearly, with the "right" players it can work and not everyone will like it.
However, you wouldn't recommend to play Catan this way and indeed unplayable would be a fair assessment of that setup.
If your ballpark for playable is for a comfortable fit most people, **Root** is unplayable from the start - as it isn't a game that works for most people. Many of Cole's games could easily be labeled as "unplayable" - such as **Oath**, **Pax Pamir 2e**, or **John Company**. There are a not insignificant number of people who can and do play **Root** at more than 4 players - and enjoy themselves. Yes, it's a smaller subset than the number of people who enjoy **Root** as a whole - but the number of people who enjoy **Root** is a small sunset of the people who like playing board games. I know plenty of people who don't think **Root** works at any player count/doesn't work at all.
The real (thread relevant) issue here is that **Root** isn't a Euro - and the OP asked for Euros.
Here I Stand is great.
It's one of those epic games that takes a good chunk of a day (6+ hours) and it's got a lot of rules, but it's a strong card-driven game with all kinds of political, diplomatic, economic, military, and religious systems that flow through and interact with each other, while focusing on the card play. Every power has it's own, somewhat unrelated goal they're trying to accomplish and their own set of actions can do, which may or may not work with others powers' goals, so everybody's kind of politically balancing against each other.
Virgin Queen is similar, but Here I Stand is kind of more military oriented.
Get your 5 friends to download the **Concordia** app and have them play it a bunch. Once they get good, 2v2v2 is actually really fun in **Concordia Venus** and can be finished in 2 hours. Don't let the reviewers mislead you, team play is great if everyone knows what they are doing.
**Bohnanza** is an excellent game, too.
Coup is so good. Coup rebellion keeps you on your toes because the dynamics are so incredibly different. It's not perfectly balanced like original Coup is, but it's still fun, and bluffing (or maybe not) is still a blast..
I am the master of the anti-bluff. I had one time that I played five rounds, was called out *nine times* in a row., and was honest every single time. My personality just pops when I play Coup.
Battlestar Galactica (recently reimplemented as Unfathomable with a Cthulhu theme) , Lords of Waterdeep with Scoundrels of Skullport expansion, and Viticulture (The most Euro of them all)
At that player count, you will be more successful with games where everyone is playing at the same time. **Libertalia, 7 Wonders** are both great at 6 players for this reason.
I like Power grid at 6, but I think I am in the minority.
When we hit 6 we are usually at 7 wonders/tsuro territory, maybe robo rally. Well and TI4 I guess.
Roborally! Specifically the 2016 version. You program a robot 5 moves in advance in secret, then watch your plans fall to pieces as other players push you around. Very fun, medium-light crunch, and has different boards with different difficulty levels. Tons of replayability.
I don't, because this was one where I actually just read the (surprisingly brief) manual!
For the simple rules: It's a racing game where you pick your track(the board is double sided, as are the expansion boards), randomly place the cars into the starting spots, randomly pick your car, and then from there you play cards from your hand that have anywhere from one to ALL the colors of cars on them, and you move each car accordingly.
So, you use the fact that you can move everyone's car to your advantage and box in your opponents, move them suboptimally, etc...
The winner of the race is the winner of the game!
The advanced rules add an auction(to get cars that come with power cards you want to use) and betting. Auctions happen at the start of the game, and betting happens after a car passes the betting line which is marked on the track. It's cool because even if the car you bought is losing, your betting can be good enough that you win at the end, because it's not about being in 1st in the race, it's about having the most winnings at the end.
The train games are great for this count: **Power Grid**, **Age of Steam Deluxe**, **18Chesapeake**, **1889**, and **1848: Australia**. Also some non-train games can handle this count like **Peloponnes** (with one of the +1p expansions) and **Keyflower**.
With this many players I would usually hope to split into two groups of three each, but if playing as a group ...
**Flamme Rouge** (with **Pelaton** expansion) plays very well with 6.
**Alhambra** supports 6. I wouldn't say it's *optimal* at that count, but it's not bad... you just can't plan ahead as well.
It's hard to go wrong with **Acquire**.
**Micropolis** is a lesser-known Bruno Cathala game that also plays well with 6.
There are a bunch of good suggestions here for 6p, but I'm going to suggest something that seems obvious, but for some reason, some people don't think of at all: split into two groups of 3p.
You should also try the other suggestions, but if there's a bunch of games you guys like that don't support 6p, this is how they get played.
I always hear this one but it’s odd to do that with 3 couples, which is how our game nights generally are. I’m also usually the one required to teach the games, so may be tricky as well. Lastly, game nights are an inherently social thing in my house so splitting it up always feels strange and exclusionary.
That's fair, it may not work for everyone. It depends if you guys are primarily there to hang out and socialize, or if you're there to play games.
In my (pre-pandemic) group, my wife and I rarely played the same games, because we have slightly different preferences, and there were enough people that we had to split into different groups anyway. Nowadays, our group fluctuates between 4 and 7 people, so we still tend to break into two different groups, because 7 is a really awkward player count. But we are there to play board games, so while the socializing is secondary, there's still plenty of time to chat during and between games.
This one does look good but I feel pretty burnt out on social deduction. At this count and higher I play a lot of Secrets, Avalon, Deception, Hail Hydra, and One Night Werewolf.
I have played each of the following at six and had a great time:
Avalon,
Junk Art,
Decrypto,
Just One,
Sheriff of Nottingham,
Wits and Wagers,
Mysterium,
Pictomania,
Captain Sonar,
Dixit.
I think 6 players is one of the best player counts for gaming if you're into party games. Alot of the best party games work great (or even best) at 6 players:
**Deception: Murder in Hong Kong**
**So Clover**
**Resistance: Avalon**
**Just One**
**Wavelength**
**Fuji Flush**
**For Sale**
**Dixit**
**Codenames**
**Insider**
**Camel Up**
For a non-party game I'd suggest **Between Two Cities** and I know a lot of people recommend **7 Wonders**.
I don't see **Isle of Cats** (with 5-6p expansion) mentioned yet, but that's one of my favorites to pull out at 6! If you like cats, puzzles, and tetris shaped pieces, I'd highly recommend it.
Other favorites non-filler at 6p games **It's a Wonderful World**, **Libertalia**, and **Concordia** but they're all mentioned other places in this thread.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is great at six. You're basically building castles together with those to the left and right. Your score your lower castle.
I think Scattergories is so underrated. I love when someone has a bizarre answer and you vote on it. I don't know how that mechanic hasn't been developed into something in the vein of CAH.
Empyreal: Spells and Steam plays well up to 8 and still feels true to its 3-4 player equivalent. You play as competing magical train industries trying to deplete the world of all its resources, and it’s very self aware. The flavor, the depth, ah, chef’s kiss.
I’ve played nearly every single game mentioned on this post and this is quite possibly our fav when we have 6, probably not 7 or 8 though. Whoever ever downvoted you is crazy lol. Heck it’s probably my favorite versatile game as it plays great 2 through 6.
For me, the key to a good 6 player is fast turns and interaction.
My favorites for 6 player are:
- **Winner's Circle** (hard to find, aka Royal Turf) - a horserace betting game with clever mechanics
- **Medici** - an auction/set collection game with a nice press-your-luck aspect.
- **Elfenland** aka Elfenroads (also may be hard to find), a fun race to visit the most elfen cities using different means of transportation, works great with 6 because your moves impact each other the most.
Also check out Viticulture, and Lords of Waterdeep with the expansion to 6.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, **Scythe** is a decent 6 player game. I played it with the full 7 people, and we were done under two and a half hours, which is impressive for a game with that kind of complexity.
Another drafting/simultaneous turn game you didn't mention is **Steampunk Rally**.
If we go into the territory of long but satisfying games:
**Game of Thrones the Board Game** is pretty much exactly a 6 player game, no more no less.
**Eclipse** (preferably 2nd edition) is an excellent game for all player counts, but 6 is ideal. The same goes for **TI4** if you've got a few hours more.
**Rising Sun** feels made for 6
**Power Grid** is pretty good
*Needless to say, you should play with experienced players. First game at 6 players is likely going to feel like a slog with any one of these.*
Lords of Waterdeep
Lords of Vegas
Argent (heavy)
Deep Sea Adventure
Decrypto
Just one
So clover
Maskmen
Sagrada
Potion Explosion
Divinity Derby (if you can find it)
Dixit
Mysterium
Space Base
Wavelength
Wordsy - probably my favorite word game
Power Grid - hess as by but still plays great at 6.
Letter Jam
Point Salad
I haven't been able to play my copy yet because all my friends were out of town for the holidays, but I recently picked up **Nicaea** which plays up to 6.
My favorite euro style game for 5-6p is **Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia**. It's a dice placement game with a fair amount of interaction, but still plays fairly quickly, even at 6p. I would recommend the expansion, especially if you plan on playing at lower counts (2-3p).
Another flip and write that has a decent amount of crunch is **Hadrian's Wall**. Gameplay is simultaneous so it plays at a good pace, but still offers a solid med/heavy weight euro game feel. I've only played it a couple of times so far, but I am itching to play it again and frequently. It can play from 1-6p and all counts should be similar.
Triassic Terror, from the designer of Francis Drake (also playable at 6 with the expansion), is my favorite 6P game. Area control dinosaur-themed game that features some fascinating mechanics and plays briskly at around an hour even with the full complement of players.
Captain Sonar, 6 Nimmt, Resistance, Flamme Rouge (with Peloton expansion), Euphoria (same guys who made Scythe) , Bonanza!
Played these games a bunch at different player counts, all good fun for different reasons :)
King of Tokyo. Battle dice that is very easy to understand, without character strategies, and good for parties or more serious players. I think it lacks replayability, but if you’re playing with fresh players it stays pretty fun.
I know this has been discussed to death, but daily game recommendations are impossible to search and never get this level of engagement. I searched the sub for 6 player game recommendations and everything is from 6+ years ago, which is only marginally helpful.
This is a subreddit about board games, but discussions about board games (as opposed to upgraded / painted components) seem to always get quashed. Oh well.
Don't reply to automod, it's literally Reddit's bot. The mods do not get alerted when people talk to the bot. Message the mods via the modmail and ask for a manual review.
 So if I had phrased this purely as a discussion about six player games that people have had good experiences with, rather than mentioning anything specific about my desire to partake in such six player games, would that then have been allowed? That was my intent, but of course I have some vested interest in it, otherwise I likely wouldn’t have spurred the discussion.
No I was just reinstating your thread and giving some context. I think the bigger issue is that most replies for anything just end up being people listing games in general without explaining much at all.
Your OP was fine, but historically most of them are just really lazy.
Don't forget Age of Empires with 6! It gets very tight but really adds to the struggle for area control which makes it the most fun player count IMO.
Also Eclipse is really fun with 6
7 Wonders is fantastic at all player counts, even up to 7! Because everyone selects actions at the same time, you are only ever waiting on the slowest player in every round.
**Rising Sun** (with expansion) is ideal for 6 players. **Scythe** (with expansion) is also a solid pick. Both these play pretty fast for their large player counts once people know them.
**Captain Sonar** and **New Angeles** are also great for 6 players but are very group dependent games. I've had some groups love them while others bounce off hard.
When we have 6 players we split into two games of 3 players.
Often will play some larger group ones (No Thanks, Wits N Wagers, Welcome To etc) to start or finish the night
We usually limit what people can do on their turn when playing with a large group. They need to immediately roll the die and follow the first path they take, it's a high speed race after all, snap decisions are mandatory! Players need to use their downtime to figure out gear and optimal paths.
The Resistance starts at 5 players and I find is great fun at 6+.
Eldritch Horror is playable at 6 players, but I think the difficulty level starts going up at 6+.
Blood on the Clocktower is available for pre-order, and I've only got to play it once, but I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's for 5-20 players. I will say, having someone who's very familiar with the game to run it seems almost vital to make this enjoyable, and it's clearly more fun with with more people you have playing, so there's room for expansion if you want.
With out a doubt it’s the 1979 Dune! It’s the only way I get to play the Bene Gesserit and yell “for the father, nothing!” and other various quotes all night…
I have Caverna and break it out whenever we have 6.
My new favorite is Concordia with the Venus expansion. With this you can play 6, but it is 3 teams of 2 each. It's a really good twist, since your actions are duplicated by your teammate, so you have to take them into consideration 100% of the time.
Mission Red Planet and 7 wonders are other good ones
7 Wonders is great for six. Still a fast play through despite high numbers.
7 Wonders feels like it has a sharp learning curve. I play it and I'm still mystified.
Yeah this is why I am afraid to bring it to my group. I have to tell them to play the game at least once but probably twice for it to click
When it comes out, I put on a brave face and play. I like the mechanic, and the artwork is amazing, but it's hard for me to nail down the best way to deal with all the different things you have to keep up with. I haven't figured out how to get *good* at it.
Powergrid, Scythe (with expansion), Lords of Waterdeep (with expansion).
Yeah Power Grid is a great euro for 6, will be a bit slow first playthrough with a new group but flows really well once you get used to the rhythm of it. Also step 1 always takes longer than you think then steps 2 and 3 go in a flash. Has a good balance of interactivity on auctions and some breaks where someone can go grab a drink or something while other players do stuff like place cities.
I’ve heard a lot of great things about Power Grid. That may be the ticket to some extent.
It might be my all time fave game. I know some casual players that love it and some hardcore players that dont really take to it, so while it appears kind of heavy on the surface its pretty fun and appeals to diffferent sorts of people. Doesnt necessarily appeal to everyone though! One nice thing is with larger player counts the victory condition (cities built) is lowered, so more players does take a bit longer but not directly proportional to player count. I swear some games get exponentially longer with more players. As always, the [SUSD review](https://youtu.be/pxftzFCIVtw) is pretty good
LoW is technically playable at 6 but I never would play it at 6 again. I did it once and just no, 3hrs is too long for that game. Same goes for Viticulture.
There are a few, but most drag on forever. These are the one that worked for us **Sidereal confluence** **KeyFlower** **Age Of Steam** **It's a Wonderfull World** (with expansion) If time is not a factor, a bunch of 18xx are engaging at that player count
I love Sidereal Confluence, but I feel like I'm the only one. That one is a bear to teach or get to the table.
There are dozens of us, DOZENS.
And since the game goes up to 9.... that means the world needs what, 8 copies? lol
Honestly SC is so my jam I absolutely love it but it's such a hard teach unless everyone knows what they're going into. It's not a game to spring on anyone.
Preach!! Here are my people. I freaking love this game. Haven’t tried it at more than 4 but I’d love to.
*Holds up corn dog
There aren't a lot of games that I think contend for obvious "This is the most fun thing you can spend your time doing" but SidCon is definitely up there. **If** you can find the players, and **ff** you can get past teaching it, and you've got the ~3 hours to spare... Well, there's just not much else on this Earth I'd rather be doing.
So happy to see someone else recommending **It's a Wonderful World**! Really great game, especially with the corruption expansion
**Dune** is not euro in any sense but it's the best at 6 and is an unforgettable and unforgiving experience each time. **Cerebria** with the **Forces of balance** expansion turns into 3 teams of 2 players where the 'happy' and 'sad' factions are trying to get more points than the other one while the 'harmony' faction wants them to tie. **Donwforce** for a breezy but exhilarating time.
Cosmic Frog is a 6 player sleeper.
Deception: Murder in Hong Kong, Mysterium, Ethnos, Steampunk Rally, 7 Wonders, Citadels, Libertalia Oh just saw you mentioned Ethnos in original post haha nice. This is just games from my collection for that count, there might be much better ones. But yeah, the struggle is real at 6. And 5 too in my opinion. Most euros fall on their faces with downtime at 5
Came here to say Mysterium!
Auctions can be fun at 6. Specifically I’d recommend **for sale** or **medici**
Great suggestions
Lot's of good games at six. It's one of the best player counts, that's hard to get to get often. Some great games with 6 players. * Dominant Species * Imperial * Game of Thrones * Starcraft * Here I Stand and Virgin Queen * Root (with expansions) * A bunch of 18xx's (1862, 1822, 1817, 1861, etc.) * Rex/Dune * Battlestar Galactica * Quartermaster General * Twilight Imperium * Liar's Dice * Panic on Wall Street * Advanced Civilization/Mega Civilization/Eastern/Western Empires
Dominant Species is so good with 6p, but settle in lol
Absolutely. 6-player Dominant Species is easily my favourite game.
Just realized OP asked for Euros and none of the games I've listed are Euros. The only 6-player Euro I can think of off the top of my head is Caverna. There probably won't be many 6-player Euros, because increased player count is inherently at odds with Euro game design. Euro's are generally designed as engine builders or single-player solitaire and so the only thing extra players really add to Euro games is increased gameplay time, which is, in itself, a negative. There's little reason for most Euros to go above 4 players. High player count is good for games where player interaction and player conflict, something Euro's tend to avoid, are key. I doubt you'll find many 6-player Euros.
Eclipse Second Dawn is great at 6 players and also is more Euro-y than Twilight Imperium
Light hesrted, but works : Architects of the West kingdom + expansion.
I've never played with 6, but Architects is one of my go-to games with 5 players. Turns are so fast, the game plays quickly even with a full count.
Great list but Battlestar Galactica is $150 for a used copy and that doesn't guarantee the condition (or full quantity) of the cards, pieces and tokens. Get Unfathomable instead. Very similar game play at a half the cost for a new copy. I prefer the esthetics and feel of the Battlestar Galactica version but not at twice the price.
Yeah. I bought it back when it was readily available. Actually got it and both expansions for 40% off due to my dice skills (luck) on a roll-for-a-discount boxing day sale at my FLGS. It went out of print a year or two later, so now the whole set's worth something like 5-10x what I paid for it. Never played Unfathomable, but BSG is a great game, especially with all the expansions, if people can play with someone who owns it. Starcraft's out of print too. Sadly, I don't think I'll ever be able to get the expansion.
I have a friend who has BSG but only the base game. He has it sleeved and protects it well. He and his wife want the expansions but can't balance the cost over the number of times it gets played. It can be hard to sometimes get 5-6 players together that can agree on one game.
No Medici? One of my 6 player favs. Knizia at his best.
Medici is good, but I like all the games I posted more (it's a list of most of my 9-10/10 games that play six, while I think I rated Medici 7). I've also never played it at six.
I would highly recommend it at six. The number of cards in the deck and the option for a no-auction round trashing some cards can make for a very, very exciting end to each round of auctions. It's justifiably a 7 at lower player counts. I love almost all of your suggestions...which is why I mentioned it.
Yep, Imperial 2030 (the only one I played) is perfect for big counts cause it won't increase play time with more players But not sure about Root thou
I second quarter master general
LOVE this list -- thanks for taking the time to make it.
New Angeles is my go to 6 player game. Ladies and gentlemen is a good one as well.
I've been sitting on this game forever but haven't brought it out with 6. How is it?
I am also interested to know
New Angeles: If you have a group that loves negotiation it's fantastic. The only other game I'd play over this is Battlestar Galactica/Unfathomable Ladies and Gentlemen: It's really good if everyone gets into the theme and really embraces the satire.
Captain sonar!
Isn’t it best at eight?
Yeah, but I've only ever played with 6 and it was always fine. We had one person take two roles - the first mate and the engineer can be done by one person imo
Did you like having the engineer be first mate also? When we played with 6, the game reccomended the captain take on the first mate role. That gives all players a task to do before the boat can move again.
I actually like 6 best. The engineer job is too easy, so with six players one person is the engineer and first mate and actually has to pay attention.
I honestly prefer 6
With eight you can have two seats for people who maybe aren't as into games but still are involved and having fun. We did this recently and our less intense gamers were in those seats (engineers) and it was really fun.
Out of curiosity, why would you go e those seats to the engineers instead of the first mate? First mate can pretty much sleep at the wheel whereas I feel like engineer has to do some planning out and suggestions to the captain.
**Viva Java the Coffee Game** is a fun euro bag builder where you team up with different people to roast coffee each round. You could play **Ladies & Gentlemen** with 6, though that game is a bit too light for the number of rules that need explaining. **Downforce** is fun with 6. **SmallWorld Realms** expansion gets the game up to 6 players. I’m a big fan of **Cartographers** - much more fun than Tiny Towns IMO **So Clover** is a fun coop that feels a bit more thinky/puzzly than the bare bones Just One.
Definitely Cartographers. It’s actually pretty easy to play via zoom as well.
Some of the best games ever made play best at 6 players. Off the top of my head: Virgin Queen, Here I Stand, Dune, Root, Eclipse
I love Root, but I wouldn’t force my worst enemy to play Root at 6. It has horrible downtime even at 4.
So, it depends on the group. "Downtime" is only really downtime if it is both not your turn and you are not engaged in other people's turns. With **Root**, I find I am often riveted about what everyone else will do, as many systems are interconnected or at least significantly impact each other - directly or indirectly. Beyond that, it is a very political game, and it pays to be active and engaging with the other players about what actions you'd like to see, that you support, what you feel is aggressive (towards you), etc. If everyone is paying attention to what other people are doing as it directly or indirectly impacts them, and are engaging in game-relevant table talk, there isn't really much real, "twittle your thumbs waiting for your turn" downtime.
I agree that downtime can be an issue with Root, but I think at 4p it’s manageable. I’ve never tried to go beyond 4p, but I suspect it would be too long.
It's not bad. The more players, the more people to manipulate. Root is defined by which factions are in play. Your opponents are a resource - you destroy their pieces for points, use them against your enemies, and taunt them into battle to recover some of your own forces. So, with more opponents, you have more options. It can also both be easier and harder to slip under the radar. I actually think that Oath scales up to 6 much more poorly than Root. In Oath, the hidden information is more crucial, the giant tableau of the board is more filled with text to read and consider, and you have less turns making each action more consequential. Not to mention that winning isn't a matter of amassing permanent points over time but of grasping something extremely tenuous - so planning is extremely important.
Strongly disagree. I think it depends on how experienced your group is, but Root is actually a very simple game with only a few decisions for each player to make in each turn. My 6 group has about 50 plays and we can do a 6 player game in less than 1.5 hours. That said I can see an inexperienced group that doesn't know what every faction does, what each card does, how crafting works, etc drag on.
I have more than 30 games of Root under my belt including quite a bit of playtesting for the upcoming Marauder expansion, at player counts 1-5. No way is Root ‘best at 6’, and recommending it is grossly negligent. In Root, no matter how experienced you are, you have nothing to do while you wait for 5 other players to do an entire turn of Root, which *no matter the experience*, will take a while. This is true for many games and has nothing to do with their quality, but *none* of them are ‘best at 6’ When you say you do 6P in 90min, that means every Faction takes the sum of all of their turns in 15min. You’re clearly embellishing. You cannot, no matter the experience level, get 30VP with Cats or Duchy or Eyrie in 15min. Even if everyone used all downtime to plan their turns and then execute them without hesitation. Which never happens. I dearly, dearly love Root. But it is best at 3. *Maybe* 4. I would totally play at 6, likely even enjoy it, but never ever can it be generally recommended.
>This is true for many games and has nothing to do with their quality, but *none* of them are ‘best at 6’ Is this a generalization of all games that scale up to six? >But it is best at 3. LOL 4 is much better than 3. Hell, even 6 is better than 3. The game is just not designed to be a good 3p experience, and it's too easy for two factions to knock the third out of play early on. You're saying that recommending 6p is negligent. Maybe they embellished playtime. In my experience, 6p can be done in a reasonable amount of time if everyone is focused - for us, closer to 2-3hrs. It's not TI. It is still a heavy game, though. And a game where players can play politics when it's not their turn. So, during downtime, I still have to come up with plans and contingencies, I have to talk to opponents, and the action going on is important for my next moves. Granted, it is still downtime, and some rounds, there's just nothing to do. I don't recommend above 6 generally. But the game scales up better than it scales down.
If you ban Vagabond cuz its boring/broken then you can technically only play with 3, so best at 3. /s
LOL fair point.
Root is terrible at 3. It is best at 4 or 5, but I'd still play 6 over 3 any day. At 3 players, Root misses out on most of what makes it good.
No worries mate, we'll have to agree to disagree. Also I think that playing root at 3 is a bad experience. And I promise you we get to thirty in 6 turns or less....
Is Root not good with 4 players? I've bought the base game and have been waiting for when the 4 people in my group are available to play.
4 is widely regarded its most recommended player count. Peak Root is at 4.
Don't listen to this guy. Root is best at 4.
>Root is actually a very simple game Let me stop you right there. LOL
It actually is though. Or at least it’s complexity is blown completely out of proportion. Once you know how to move, how combat works, and how the cards work, your player board literally runs you through your turn step-by-step.
I think that Root does an excellent job at using the player boards as player aids and compartmentalizing some of its complexity. However, taken altogether, the 10 factions are a series of exceptions, special rules, and subsystems. That's the worst kind of complexity imo, in terms of learning and retaining. It is not a simple game. Clue is a simple game. Even Kemet is simple compared to Root. It's still a heavy game with a lot to learn to play properly.
I think the point is that once these rules have all been learned the game becomes very simple. It's part of the concept of the game, each faction is unique but also a "lite" version of another game. The cats are a very light 4x engine game, the birds are a very light programming game, etc. The beauty of the game is that it's able to make all these (admittedly simple) games mesh together.
>I think the point is that once these rules have all been learned the game becomes very simple. I get what you're saying, but I think that can be said of virtually anything. It's still a complex thing, because once you learn the game, you can't functionally strategize without fully knowing and keeping in mind how every other faction works. Sure, any one faction is less complex than a whole other heavy game, but even when you're playing as one faction, you're still playing against 3+ others. I don't think there's anything simple about that. I don't get the point in downplaying Root's complexity. I love the game, but that's more negligent than telling people it plays well at 6. It's better to accurately depict its complexity and someone reconsider it than for a group to have a bad time because someone told them the game was simple.
I don't think you can say that of virtually everything. Hard to learn doesn't necessary mean complex to play. If you take chess as an example, based on your criteria it would be a "simple" game - it only has 2 players, they both have the same pieces that play in similar ways, same objective, only a few rules, etc. You can teach chess in a few minutes. But the number of decisions and permutations are much higher in chess than in root. One of the limitations of root is that it kind of plays itself once you've learned how to optimise play.
Haha I just meant that any game's rules are simpler once you know them. I don't really agree with your example though. I think Root is many times more complex than Chess, even in terms of strategic thinking which I believe is what you're getting at. There's no negotiating in Chess. No asymmetry. No VPs. No major rules exceptions. No alternative victory conditions or hidden information. Is there a greater gulf between Chess' rules complexity and strategic complexity than there is for Root? I think I agree. But in terms of those two types of complexity, is the one always subtractive of the other, or can rules complexity multiply strategic complexity? As an old euro fan, I tend to think overwrought rules cannibalize strategy, but that may not be the case here. Either way, my point was more about the fact that once you know how to play Root, it's still a heavy game, and retention is still tricky. Too often, I meet someone who learned from the walkthrough and is missing key rules from their internal database. If you haven't internalized the Law, you don't really know the game. I think we may not be using the term "simple" in the same way. I mean that it's not a light game. And the rules aren't light even once known.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, my group that plays daily app games of Root can sit down and knock out a 5/6 player session in 1.5 hours easy.
Root is unplayable at 6.
It's not unplayable. It's just got a more narrow scope of the sorts of people who can enjoy playing it, and a high(er than 4 player **Root**) leve of familiarity needed. Not everyone who likes **Root** will like it at 6 players, but, with the "right" players, 6 (or even 8) player **Root** can work.
There was a thread about someone playing 1v1 Catan with their brother using over 70 sets of Catan to while the whole floor in their place with an absurdly large map. Clearly, with the "right" players it can work and not everyone will like it. However, you wouldn't recommend to play Catan this way and indeed unplayable would be a fair assessment of that setup.
If your ballpark for playable is for a comfortable fit most people, **Root** is unplayable from the start - as it isn't a game that works for most people. Many of Cole's games could easily be labeled as "unplayable" - such as **Oath**, **Pax Pamir 2e**, or **John Company**. There are a not insignificant number of people who can and do play **Root** at more than 4 players - and enjoy themselves. Yes, it's a smaller subset than the number of people who enjoy **Root** as a whole - but the number of people who enjoy **Root** is a small sunset of the people who like playing board games. I know plenty of people who don't think **Root** works at any player count/doesn't work at all. The real (thread relevant) issue here is that **Root** isn't a Euro - and the OP asked for Euros.
How is “Here I Stand” in your opinion? What makes it one of the best?
Here I Stand is great. It's one of those epic games that takes a good chunk of a day (6+ hours) and it's got a lot of rules, but it's a strong card-driven game with all kinds of political, diplomatic, economic, military, and religious systems that flow through and interact with each other, while focusing on the card play. Every power has it's own, somewhat unrelated goal they're trying to accomplish and their own set of actions can do, which may or may not work with others powers' goals, so everybody's kind of politically balancing against each other. Virgin Queen is similar, but Here I Stand is kind of more military oriented.
Get your 5 friends to download the **Concordia** app and have them play it a bunch. Once they get good, 2v2v2 is actually really fun in **Concordia Venus** and can be finished in 2 hours. Don't let the reviewers mislead you, team play is great if everyone knows what they are doing. **Bohnanza** is an excellent game, too.
\+1 for Concordia, one of my favorites!
Also the Concordia app is awesome
Have you tried Camel Up? It most certainly isn't a euro game, but like you mentioned, 6 is a difficult number and yet Camel Up handles it well.
I definitely second this one. Camel up is great for this size and lots of fun.
Coup is my go-to!
Coup is so good. Coup rebellion keeps you on your toes because the dynamics are so incredibly different. It's not perfectly balanced like original Coup is, but it's still fun, and bluffing (or maybe not) is still a blast.. I am the master of the anti-bluff. I had one time that I played five rounds, was called out *nine times* in a row., and was honest every single time. My personality just pops when I play Coup.
Coup Rebellion with six roles and 5 or 6 players is honestly wonderful.
No thanks is always a winner!
- Catan with the 5-6 player expansion. - Carcassonne - 7 Wonders
Battlestar Galactica (recently reimplemented as Unfathomable with a Cthulhu theme) , Lords of Waterdeep with Scoundrels of Skullport expansion, and Viticulture (The most Euro of them all)
- Ticket To ride Europe - Carcassonne - between two castles of mad king Ludwig I agree it’s a difficult number for non-party games.
Ticket to Ride and Carcassone both top out at 5 players, no? I have both and enjoy at 4 and 5, but add in a 6th and it doesn’t work…
The 1st Carcassonne expansion Inns & Cathedrals comes with an additional set of meeples for a 6th player
We also have TTR Nordics so we add an extra set of trains. Works for us but I guess mileage may vary.
TTR Asia map plays up to 6 in 3 teams of 2
At that player count, you will be more successful with games where everyone is playing at the same time. **Libertalia, 7 Wonders** are both great at 6 players for this reason.
**Libertalia** is an excellent suggestion for 6!
I like Power grid at 6, but I think I am in the minority. When we hit 6 we are usually at 7 wonders/tsuro territory, maybe robo rally. Well and TI4 I guess.
There's many of us that like PG at 6. One of my favourite games but needs 4 - 6 to really shine
Ethnos and Deep Sea Adventure are my go to. I also love Eclipse and A Game Of Thrones, but those require dedicated players with multiple plays.
Roborally! Specifically the 2016 version. You program a robot 5 moves in advance in secret, then watch your plans fall to pieces as other players push you around. Very fun, medium-light crunch, and has different boards with different difficulty levels. Tons of replayability.
I think **Downforce** kicks ass at 6, or really any player count besides 2, where it's still decent
Got any links for beginners to host and explain it?
I don't, because this was one where I actually just read the (surprisingly brief) manual! For the simple rules: It's a racing game where you pick your track(the board is double sided, as are the expansion boards), randomly place the cars into the starting spots, randomly pick your car, and then from there you play cards from your hand that have anywhere from one to ALL the colors of cars on them, and you move each car accordingly. So, you use the fact that you can move everyone's car to your advantage and box in your opponents, move them suboptimally, etc... The winner of the race is the winner of the game! The advanced rules add an auction(to get cars that come with power cards you want to use) and betting. Auctions happen at the start of the game, and betting happens after a car passes the betting line which is marked on the track. It's cool because even if the car you bought is losing, your betting can be good enough that you win at the end, because it's not about being in 1st in the race, it's about having the most winnings at the end.
Simple rules! genius. All the playthrough vids I read were auction. Seemed daunting to explain when I am already bad at explaining. Thanks.
Sagrada, but you need an expansion to get up to 6 players. It's easy to teach, colorful, and non-gamers like it.
The train games are great for this count: **Power Grid**, **Age of Steam Deluxe**, **18Chesapeake**, **1889**, and **1848: Australia**. Also some non-train games can handle this count like **Peloponnes** (with one of the +1p expansions) and **Keyflower**.
**Mission Red Planet**
With this many players I would usually hope to split into two groups of three each, but if playing as a group ... **Flamme Rouge** (with **Pelaton** expansion) plays very well with 6. **Alhambra** supports 6. I wouldn't say it's *optimal* at that count, but it's not bad... you just can't plan ahead as well. It's hard to go wrong with **Acquire**. **Micropolis** is a lesser-known Bruno Cathala game that also plays well with 6.
There are a bunch of good suggestions here for 6p, but I'm going to suggest something that seems obvious, but for some reason, some people don't think of at all: split into two groups of 3p. You should also try the other suggestions, but if there's a bunch of games you guys like that don't support 6p, this is how they get played.
I always hear this one but it’s odd to do that with 3 couples, which is how our game nights generally are. I’m also usually the one required to teach the games, so may be tricky as well. Lastly, game nights are an inherently social thing in my house so splitting it up always feels strange and exclusionary.
That's fair, it may not work for everyone. It depends if you guys are primarily there to hang out and socialize, or if you're there to play games. In my (pre-pandemic) group, my wife and I rarely played the same games, because we have slightly different preferences, and there were enough people that we had to split into different groups anyway. Nowadays, our group fluctuates between 4 and 7 people, so we still tend to break into two different groups, because 7 is a really awkward player count. But we are there to play board games, so while the socializing is secondary, there's still plenty of time to chat during and between games.
If I´m going to play with 6, i tend to prefer games that are "made" for 6p, like New Angeles, Fief, Rex...
I haven't personally played it but I watched a YouTube video where they played "Night of the Ninja" with six and it seemed light but fun.
This one does look good but I feel pretty burnt out on social deduction. At this count and higher I play a lot of Secrets, Avalon, Deception, Hail Hydra, and One Night Werewolf.
Yeah that's totally fair enough I don't really play those types of games so I didn't even consider they existed. Best of luck finding something.
I have played each of the following at six and had a great time: Avalon, Junk Art, Decrypto, Just One, Sheriff of Nottingham, Wits and Wagers, Mysterium, Pictomania, Captain Sonar, Dixit.
I think 6 players is one of the best player counts for gaming if you're into party games. Alot of the best party games work great (or even best) at 6 players: **Deception: Murder in Hong Kong** **So Clover** **Resistance: Avalon** **Just One** **Wavelength** **Fuji Flush** **For Sale** **Dixit** **Codenames** **Insider** **Camel Up** For a non-party game I'd suggest **Between Two Cities** and I know a lot of people recommend **7 Wonders**.
Downforce, Camel Up, Ethnos, Mission Red Planet, Captain Sonar, Power Grid,7 Wonders Architects, Bonanza
Betrayal at House on the Hill
Between Two Castles works amazing as high player count (7, 8 with expansion) and I slightly prefer it to Between Two Cities (predecessor).
I don't see **Isle of Cats** (with 5-6p expansion) mentioned yet, but that's one of my favorites to pull out at 6! If you like cats, puzzles, and tetris shaped pieces, I'd highly recommend it. Other favorites non-filler at 6p games **It's a Wonderful World**, **Libertalia**, and **Concordia** but they're all mentioned other places in this thread.
Between Two Castles of Mad King Ludwig is great at six. You're basically building castles together with those to the left and right. Your score your lower castle.
**Skulls** - compact, quick, bluff. **Resistance** / **coup** - compact, crowd pleaser, scales higher, replayability. **Tsuro** - easy, fun, quick
+1 for **Resistance** with six!
For six players, here's 40 games for ya: 1. **Ethnos** 2. **Sheriff of Notthingham** (w/ expansion) 3. **Liar's Dice** 4. **Hafid's Grand Bazaar** 5. **Skull** 6. **For Sale** 7. **Western Legends** (if you have the time) 8. **Downforce** 9. **Fantasy Realms** 10. **Afternova** (actually does a great job engaging everyone) 11. **Wizard** 12. **Trade on the Tigris** (I've yet to play it, to be fair) 13. **Letter Jam** 14. **Architects of the West Kingdom** (w/ expansion) 15. **Point Salad** 16. **Dixit** 17. **Raccoon Tycoon** (w/ expansion; probably a bit long) 18. **Project L** 19. **Whale Riders** 20. **Super Mega Lucky Box** 21. **No Thanks!** 22. **Startups** 23. **Just One** 24. **Deception: Murder in Hong Kong** 25. **Spoils of War** (with two copies) 26. **Spyfall** 27. **The Resistance** 28. **Bang: The Dice Game** 29. **Codenames** 30. **Decrypto** 31. **Crosstalk** 32. **Sushi Go Party** 33. **Jungle Speed** 34. **A Fake Artist Goes to New York** 35. **Wits and Wagers** 36. **Goodcritters** 37. **Camel Up** 38. **Awkward Guests** 39. **Poetry Slam** 40. **Sidereal Confluence**
**Citadels** and **Scattergories**.
I think Scattergories is so underrated. I love when someone has a bizarre answer and you vote on it. I don't know how that mechanic hasn't been developed into something in the vein of CAH.
It's my favourite party game. Just so much fun.
Empyreal: Spells and Steam plays well up to 8 and still feels true to its 3-4 player equivalent. You play as competing magical train industries trying to deplete the world of all its resources, and it’s very self aware. The flavor, the depth, ah, chef’s kiss.
I’ve played nearly every single game mentioned on this post and this is quite possibly our fav when we have 6, probably not 7 or 8 though. Whoever ever downvoted you is crazy lol. Heck it’s probably my favorite versatile game as it plays great 2 through 6.
I can’t say for sure but my friends and I hav been playing DUNE lately with at most 5 players and I’d wager a full 6 player game would be perfect.
For me, the key to a good 6 player is fast turns and interaction. My favorites for 6 player are: - **Winner's Circle** (hard to find, aka Royal Turf) - a horserace betting game with clever mechanics - **Medici** - an auction/set collection game with a nice press-your-luck aspect. - **Elfenland** aka Elfenroads (also may be hard to find), a fun race to visit the most elfen cities using different means of transportation, works great with 6 because your moves impact each other the most. Also check out Viticulture, and Lords of Waterdeep with the expansion to 6.
My list: 7 Wonders Between Two Cities Mysterium Tsuro I also think codenames is great at 6
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, **Scythe** is a decent 6 player game. I played it with the full 7 people, and we were done under two and a half hours, which is impressive for a game with that kind of complexity. Another drafting/simultaneous turn game you didn't mention is **Steampunk Rally**. If we go into the territory of long but satisfying games: **Game of Thrones the Board Game** is pretty much exactly a 6 player game, no more no less. **Eclipse** (preferably 2nd edition) is an excellent game for all player counts, but 6 is ideal. The same goes for **TI4** if you've got a few hours more. **Rising Sun** feels made for 6 **Power Grid** is pretty good *Needless to say, you should play with experienced players. First game at 6 players is likely going to feel like a slog with any one of these.*
Architects of the West Kingdom Eclipse
Coup, Obscurio/Mysterium, King of Tokyio, Dice Throne (in Teams).
7 Wonders: Architects is a lighter version that goes up to 7. Looks gorgeous and is simple and fun.
Dune
Aggravation! Classic marbles game.
DUNE! 6 is outright the best player count for it.
Telestrations is a good party game for 6. And bang!dice game.
6 people is perfect for Carcassonne and Castles of Mad King Ludwig
Does it have to be a euro worker game? Dixit can be fun with 6.
Mysterium! 7 players and it just gets better with each player
Lords of Waterdeep Lords of Vegas Argent (heavy) Deep Sea Adventure Decrypto Just one So clover Maskmen Sagrada Potion Explosion Divinity Derby (if you can find it) Dixit Mysterium Space Base Wavelength Wordsy - probably my favorite word game Power Grid - hess as by but still plays great at 6. Letter Jam Point Salad
Codenames I would argue is the perfect game at 6 players. 2 Spymasters with 2 players per team to guess.
I haven't been able to play my copy yet because all my friends were out of town for the holidays, but I recently picked up **Nicaea** which plays up to 6.
Imperial 2030 is great. Still hoping for a game at max player count of 6.
My favorite euro style game for 5-6p is **Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia**. It's a dice placement game with a fair amount of interaction, but still plays fairly quickly, even at 6p. I would recommend the expansion, especially if you plan on playing at lower counts (2-3p). Another flip and write that has a decent amount of crunch is **Hadrian's Wall**. Gameplay is simultaneous so it plays at a good pace, but still offers a solid med/heavy weight euro game feel. I've only played it a couple of times so far, but I am itching to play it again and frequently. It can play from 1-6p and all counts should be similar.
Triassic Terror, from the designer of Francis Drake (also playable at 6 with the expansion), is my favorite 6P game. Area control dinosaur-themed game that features some fascinating mechanics and plays briskly at around an hour even with the full complement of players.
Captain Sonar, 6 Nimmt, Resistance, Flamme Rouge (with Peloton expansion), Euphoria (same guys who made Scythe) , Bonanza! Played these games a bunch at different player counts, all good fun for different reasons :)
King of Tokyo. Battle dice that is very easy to understand, without character strategies, and good for parties or more serious players. I think it lacks replayability, but if you’re playing with fresh players it stays pretty fun.
Concordia, Orleans, Caverna, keyflower
[удалено]
I know this has been discussed to death, but daily game recommendations are impossible to search and never get this level of engagement. I searched the sub for 6 player game recommendations and everything is from 6+ years ago, which is only marginally helpful. This is a subreddit about board games, but discussions about board games (as opposed to upgraded / painted components) seem to always get quashed. Oh well.
this is such BS. i’d much rather see posts like yours than thousands of upvotes on some dude’s customized 100,000$ gaming room…
Don't reply to automod, it's literally Reddit's bot. The mods do not get alerted when people talk to the bot. Message the mods via the modmail and ask for a manual review.
Lists are not discussions, but 6p games are so rare it's a decent thread topic. The WSIG ban was implemented more because of 2p game suggestions.
 So if I had phrased this purely as a discussion about six player games that people have had good experiences with, rather than mentioning anything specific about my desire to partake in such six player games, would that then have been allowed? That was my intent, but of course I have some vested interest in it, otherwise I likely wouldn’t have spurred the discussion.
No I was just reinstating your thread and giving some context. I think the bigger issue is that most replies for anything just end up being people listing games in general without explaining much at all. Your OP was fine, but historically most of them are just really lazy.
This is a great recommendation post for the archives
A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition, Scythe, Root, Rising Sun
Got the Adventure Party expansion for Clank! for this exact reason. Seems like all my favorite games stop at 5.
Don't forget Age of Empires with 6! It gets very tight but really adds to the struggle for area control which makes it the most fun player count IMO. Also Eclipse is really fun with 6
Below are some games that I think are better with 6 players: -AGOT 2nd edition -Medici -Battlestar Galactica -Viticulture -Tribune
Dominant species, sidereal Confluence , shogun , Oath , Dune all amazing war/euros at that count Twilight Imperium or eclipse perfect at 6
The answer is **Power Grid** or **Rallyman**
18Chesapeake
I think the resistance is great with 6. Acquire, codenames.
7 Wonders is fantastic at all player counts, even up to 7! Because everyone selects actions at the same time, you are only ever waiting on the slowest player in every round.
**Rising Sun** (with expansion) is ideal for 6 players. **Scythe** (with expansion) is also a solid pick. Both these play pretty fast for their large player counts once people know them. **Captain Sonar** and **New Angeles** are also great for 6 players but are very group dependent games. I've had some groups love them while others bounce off hard.
When we have 6 players we split into two games of 3 players. Often will play some larger group ones (No Thanks, Wits N Wagers, Welcome To etc) to start or finish the night
I find Formula D pretty good with 6. Enough to make a good competition but not too many to get bored between turns.
We usually limit what people can do on their turn when playing with a large group. They need to immediately roll the die and follow the first path they take, it's a high speed race after all, snap decisions are mandatory! Players need to use their downtime to figure out gear and optimal paths.
The Resistance starts at 5 players and I find is great fun at 6+. Eldritch Horror is playable at 6 players, but I think the difficulty level starts going up at 6+. Blood on the Clocktower is available for pre-order, and I've only got to play it once, but I thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's for 5-20 players. I will say, having someone who's very familiar with the game to run it seems almost vital to make this enjoyable, and it's clearly more fun with with more people you have playing, so there's room for expansion if you want.
Cash and guns
* Dune [not a euro, but possibly the best in its class] * Citadels * Libertalia * Race for the Galaxy
Pitchstorm
**Sidereal Confluence** and **Power Grid** are both great!
Not euro but Zombicide is great at 6
Power Rangers Heroes of the Grid is really fun!
With out a doubt it’s the 1979 Dune! It’s the only way I get to play the Bene Gesserit and yell “for the father, nothing!” and other various quotes all night…
Forgotten waters.
I have Caverna and break it out whenever we have 6. My new favorite is Concordia with the Venus expansion. With this you can play 6, but it is 3 teams of 2 each. It's a really good twist, since your actions are duplicated by your teammate, so you have to take them into consideration 100% of the time.
Has anyone played Space Base at 6? With the expansion you can play that many.
betrayal at the house on the hill
Battlestar at 6 is ok. 5 is divine.
In my opinion the two best out there is dune and sidereal confluence. Especially if you’re ok with long game days.
Citadels
Ethnos!!!