I played a fun board game called The Settlers of Catan the other night with my parents and Janene ((Actually, we played an LDS-themed replica of the game called The Settlers of Zarahemla. It is licensed from the creator of the original game, and has only a few minor variations. There is also an Old Testament-based variant called The Settlers of Canaan, which we sell at the Christian bookstore where I work.)). I don’t think a game of this caliber has been released since Monopoly.
The game is complex enough to make it fun, but not complex enough to have a steep learning curve. The point of the game is to score 10 points. Points are scored by building settlements, upgrading your settlements to cities, and using various “development” cards.
The most intriguing element of the game, in my opinion, is the dynamic board. The board is divided into 19 hexes, which are shuffled and laid out in random order at the beginning of each game. The hexes are different colors, representing the resources each hex produces. Different combinations of resources are necessary to gain development cards or to build your settlements, cities, and roads. Strategies for the game are built up around choosing the best locations for your settlements and cities and exploiting the various resources.
If you’re looking for a fun game that, theoretically, should never get boring, I would highly recommend Settlers of Catan. 