Kingdoms has been one of my favorite games, if only because it crosses so many different types of gamers. By famous strategy game creator, Reiner Knizia, who also created the Lord of the Rings boardgame, the game is quite suitable for "beer and pretzel" gamers and both children and adults (read: non-gamers).
The theme of the game is that each player owns castles within a kingdom and collects gold from prosperous lands, while avoiding regions with hazards and monsters. Unlike many German strategy games, the theme maps well to the mechanics -- at least enough for this roleplayer.
The rules are short and easy to learn. Each player receives a set of castles. Each castle is a score multiplier from 1x to 4x. Each turn, you may either place a castle, or draw a resource tile and place it face-up on the 5x6 board. The average tile has a resource value of -6 to 6.
I think you can see where I'm going. At the end of the round, each of your castle multiplies its value by the total row and column the castle is in. So if you have a x3 castle in a row with 2 -4 5, you score 9 points. One game consists of three rounds. Computing the scoring for 10 castles **is** cumbersome, but bring a gamer to the group to do the math. (:
Another interesting rule is that each player starts with one tile that he may play instead of drawing and playing a tile, or playing a castle. This rule adds a fun "ace in the hole" strategy to the game. Also, some tiles affect other tiles: The Gold Mine tile doubles the value of all tiles in its row and column; the Mountain tile separates a row or column into two rows or columns; the Dragon tile reduces all positive tiles to zero, but doesn't affect negative tiles. No, you don't want a Castle tile in the same row or column as a Gold Mine and Dragon!
I've only played it a few times, but there's some classic "beer and pretzel" tactics. If you draw a negative value tile, place it next to a high multiplier tile of an opponent. If you draw a positive value tile, your opponents will have the first opportunity to take advantage of it (since you can play a tile **or** a castle in a turn, not both). Yes, those negative tiles **do** add that wonderful "SCREW YOU" mechanic us "beer and pretzel" types love.
Kingdoms has less strategy as the classic Settles of Cataan, although there is a "No Luck" variant where you may place all tiles face up at the beginning of the round. The game also plays in under half an hour. Its price tag of $20 may be a little steep for Fantasy Flight's punch-out cardboard components, high-quality as they are.
I've found very few games playable by both strategy and "beer and pretzel" gamers, with rules simple enough for children and non-gaming adults. Kingdoms is one such game and I highly recommend it.
Fantasy Flight Games' Kingdoms page:
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/kingdoms.html
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