I've recently been playing a lot of Checkers and Backgammon; both games I've been very impressed with. Firstly because they're both a lot of fun but also because I had never realized how complex they both are and the reading skill required to play them. Obviously, they don't quite compare with the complexity of Go but I've had fun branching out.

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Thinking like a go player during a game of chess is like bringing a knife to a gun-fight. Thinking like a chess player during a game of go feels like getting knifed while you're holding a gun...

Do you play backgammon online? Re: checkers, have you read about Marion Tinsley?

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

Apparently, some people spend two or three hours on a single game of checkers. I was very surprised when I heard of that.

I checked it out on Boardgame Geek https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/157507/o-quan, it is possible that the game you saw in Germany was another related game in the Mancala family
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/9/mancala

This game is a lot like congkak in Malaysia or toguz kumalak in the Central Asian republics. These games come from an African game known in West Africa as oware. This game was first played 3000 years ago in East Africa and during the 8th century A.D. Arab traders learned the game there, after which they took it with them to different parts of Asia. A version of this game is played on some islands of the Caribbean and is known as warri. It was brought to the Caribbean by enslaved West Africans working on the big plantations of the European colonies. In contrast to congkak boards, warri boards are nothing more than a piece of pine wood with 12 hemispherical holes, 6 holes in 2 rows. This is because the slaves had to be able to hide the boards from their masters and overseers, who had prohibited the enslaved Africans from practicing their mother culture.

A game similar to Ô ăn quan is sold in many countries, including the US and Canada, under the name "mancala".

oo yes I like Mancala. Mancala and Labyrinth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth_(board_game) are popular child friendly games in our house.

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I am John. John-I-Am.

I have yet to play either online and have read nothing. It's kinda fun being at the very beginning of an elaborate game.

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Thinking like a go player during a game of chess is like bringing a knife to a gun-fight. Thinking like a chess player during a game of go feels like getting knifed while you're holding a gun...

Indeed! If you get any backgammon book, Paul Magriel's Backgammon is gold (and silver). As for Tinsley, well, he was the best checkers player ever.

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

I think that it the rules are easy. You must expell 6 ball of you oponent to win and the moves are simples. I have to confess that this movement is problematic because it does not use only one finger to move them all:


You can check it in wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone_%28board_game%29

Das Schwarze Auge (German pen&paper rpg)
rarely chess

For those of you who like European strategy games, try Terra Mystica. I have been playing it a lot recently and I think it is my favorite modern board game. It is has elements of Settlers of Catan, Puerto Rico, Agricola, and Small World, but is also a completely fresh gaming experience.

Definitely othello/reversi as I had devoted many years into it, but I am into Go at the moment

Do card games count? I mean, in a way, they're card-board games.
Try "Grave Robbers from Outer Space". Hilarious.