As per title. I personally really enjoy deckbuilding / engine builders and civilisation games, but most of them understandably end just as you’re hitting the sweet spot of getting your engine up and running. Probably why Through the Ages is my favorite game - has all the mechanics I like, but lasts long enough that I feel like I get a chance to run them.
Dice Forge’s gimmick is that it’s a dice builder (rather than a deck builder). Fun if you like rolling dice a lot and finding out what you get.
In a similar vein, Dice Throne is basically Yahtzee, but the combos you make are attacks at other players. Do I take this safe, easy combo, or reroll it all to go for my special attack?
Diplomacy’s gimmick is that there is no randomizer other than how much you trust the other players. I feel like that isn’t used enough in games. Even something like Secret Hitler has randomness of the deck.
Root’s gimmick is that every player is a different faction that plays completely differently from everyone else. Makes finding a group to play with in person a challenge (due to the learning curve), but is surprisingly well balanced.
I love games that have different goals/mechanics/etc for each player. Even just different starting hands in a deck builder like Clank, or end goals like in Discworld.
Arcs Blighted Reach is exactly this, cranked up to 11.
Aw man, as fun as that sounds, I’m never going to convince anyone to play it with me lol
Try looking for a local game group or Meetup? It’s hard to get friends into heavy games, it’s easier to get gamers into friends.