It can happen to anyone: a friend of a friend joins for the evening and suddenly Catan is not an option.
What are your goto games in those situations?
Deception - Murder in Hongkong - for up to 12 people
These are the games my friends and I prefer currently:
- 7 Wonders
- Dominion
- Catan
- Anno 1800
- Fallout
I really like 7 Wonders, for 3-7 players and one round is also not too long with about 20 minutes ^^
Ethnos - area control/ set collection/ push your luck with very short turns; hard to get to the table with my group because of the art, but once we play, everyone liked it so far
Cosmic Encounter - classic game with a lot of diplomacy
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally - chaos & mayhem, aka. a lot of fun; can drag a bit if players don’t get the mechanics
Catan has an expansion that supports more players. It makes the game longer, but I personally enjoy the change of pace.
Otherwise, there’s plenty of good suggestions on this thread already. Those that are of similar(ish) complexity and that I also enjoy:
- Bang! (Has player elimination, so make sure your friends are okay with sitting out for part of the game)
- 7 Wonders (Turns are taken in parallel, so much less down time. Great if you have slow players.)
- Sheriff of Nottingham
- Codenames (It’s marked as 2-8 players, but realistically, you can play with as many as you want.)
- Concept
With larger parties, you’ll often be waiting for that last person to arrive. Some simpler games if you want to fill that time:
- Coup/Complot
- Sushi go (Good warm-up to 7-Wonders if your group is new to the game)