Just a thought, but since i have no idea what to get my brother for his birthday, and he's really into Settlers of Catan... suggestions?
Ticket to Ride is a very popular 'entry' boardgame. Get the Europe version if you do go for it! It is also available on Steam
I highly recommend Battlestar Galactica if you can find 4-5 friends to play it with. On the surface it's a co-op game. However, one or more players is a Cylon secretly working against the group. You can imagine the paranoia and accusations that fly around the table.
Agreed, though as mentioned earlier, the base game by itself is a little lacking, something you'll appreciate once you play with the expansions. They fix some mechanics and add more player characters. Like Cally, who's once per game is always fun to threaten people with
Another game people should check out is Coup.
Agin, it extremely simple, games will rarely take more than 15 minutes, so it is a strong filler game, but one that often leaves you wanting 'one more game'. Up to 6 players, there are 15 cards in a deck, three copies of 5 different characters. The Duke, Captain, Ambassador, Contessa and Assassin.
You are playing as the head of a high ranking family in italy, vying for control of the country. You get dealt two cards from the deck which you keep face down, these represent your influence. If you lose both of your influence then you are out of the game.
http://i.imgur.com/eZN9UzB.jpg
On your turn you can do one of these actions. For instance, if you have a duke then you can take 3 gold from the bank. If not, you could take Foreign Aid and take two coins, but someone with a duke could block you, and you get nothing. The coup is unblockable, removing one players influence instantly for 7 coins.
The key thing is that the cards are all face down. Nobody knows what cards you have, and you don't know what cards anyone else has. At any point in the game when someone claims to have a certain character (A duke when taxing, for example) you can call them on it. If they were bluffing, they lose an influence and turn one of their cards face up, that card is out of the game, so everyone knows there is one less of that card. Or if they do reveal a card of that name, you lose an influence for an incorrect challenge. I've seen games where all 6 players on their first turned used the Tax action, despite there only being 3 dukes in the game.
Again, a very simple game to learn, there are only 5 different cards and everyone gets a copy of the cheat sheet, which is essentially the rules, but it plays so well with all the bluffing and backstabbing.
