As with many games of this type, epic gameplay comes with complexity, a learning curve and long play sessions. Anyone know of boardgames that deliver something big from a minimal set of rules and items? I wouldn't mind exploring a dungeon in 10-15 minutes with a random stranger on a train.
Seconding Dungeon Roll. It can be played solo, but it's a lot of fun with 2-3 people. (With more, it gets rather boring for anyone not either playing or running the dungeon.)
I've not come across anything that I would call 'epic' from a minimal set of rules, but some of my favourites that you can throw in your bag, teach in 2 minutes and play in 15:
For the use case of playing on a train, if it is literal, you should play a board game that doesn't need a board.
A great one IMO is "Hive". It is abstract, so no story or narrative, but it is easy to learn the moves, very portable, easy to play on any surface and can be very deep in its strategy.
We play 7 Wonders with a lot of new players. "Play a card every round" isn't too hard to explain. Just make sure you're using the vanilla wonders not the ones with complex bonuses. More than once new players could win their first game.
There's a Duel version for random strangers on trains and such.
I played 7 Wonders Duel and it is not that simple. Maybe the mechanics, but you have to have at least an idea of what strategy and tactics to use for it to be any fun
No experience yet with the Duel variety. Regular 7 Wonders would be one age of explanation, then the second age without explaining and finally some explanation around the Guild cards again by the third age. The second game would be without explanation.
Can't say that it delivers big, but the game Jaipur[1] can be fun. It is a two player game, takes about 20 mins and the rules are simple enough to be explained in under two minutes. As for the items - it uses cards and coins and shouldn't be too hard to handle on a train.
"Belying the imposing double-sided and icon-laden player aids, the gameplay of The 7th Continent is so straightforward that you could start a new player off with almost no explanation. Do an action, draw some cards, see what happens next."
And the mechanism of being able to save a game solves the long play time problem assuming you could continue to play other times with the same person(s).
I haven't played this, but given the title, you might want to look at Five Minute Dungeon.
Tiny Epic * (there are several games in the series) might be good. Although it does not meet your time requirements, it has few pieces and is portable.
The random stranger part is tough though. Even simple games take minutes to explain (Hive is an example another user gave, which is a great portable game, but it would take about 5ish minutes to explain the rules). It is also likely that you'll win any competitive games against a new player.
Much as I want to promote board games, if you are looking for portable fast games, the app store is probably going to serve you better.
It seems this one would be what you would want - you simply draw a card and perform the action it says. Discover the game as you go - sounds simple enough to me.
but not something for "10-15 minutes with a random stranger on a train". From memory games of it take more like an hour, and you need a reasonable-sized flat surface to arrange tiles and other components on.
