My son is 16, but really has no history in gaming. I am looking for a cool game with a play time of about 1-2 hours. Not too complex, not too easy. This game seems to fit the bill, but I just want to check others' opinions before I go buy it. I am looking for something fun for 2 players that will drag him away from the xbox.

I also want something that I am not going to whip his butt every time, as I play Tide of Iron and other wargames with enough frequency that when I can get him to play board games, it is rather lopsided.

Any suggestions or observations are appreciated.

Play time should be under an hour for a typical TH scenario. Should be a good game for a new gamer. Not too rules heavy, but a bit of depth underneath the surface to allow a player to develop some boargaming skills. Just keep him away from that Eva Kramer: he may not be ready for that fraulein hottie.

Tannhauser is defiantly the game to get. It might look intimidating when he sees the rule book however once you start reading and playing it all starts to click. You see the patterns and what the game rules are trying to accomplish.

As far as creativity it is like playing a movie. The concepts and lore is just enough for a non-gamer used to playing video games to pick up and want more of. I live with a bunch of gamers in a flat and I am the only strategy gamer. They all play xbox 360 online. However when I intorduced them to this game and got them to use their imagination we play it at least once a week. A plus but not a requirement is some of the guys are graphics majors and we have started to design our own game pieces. Making sure they are not broken and add to the game play.

As far as time goes. When its fun it doesn't matter the time. The games when still processing the rules took longer, this is to be expected. Now games take about one hour to two depending on the scenario or type of mode we are playing. If you played HeroClix I would compare it to that as its twin brother.

Thanks for the replies. It seems like this is the way to go (although I have talked him into a game of Tide of Iron tomorrow).