I'm a casual boardgamer. I haven't gotten into the more complex boardgame scene, but I also haven't played many games that I didn't enjoy. The key here is my wife. I've been working on her for a long time and I think I've finally cracked the problem. At a get together this past week, a friend brought Telestrations, which she immensely enjoyed. It appears that the key here is that she doesn't like games that involve waiting. This basically removes any games that are turn-based.

Number of Players: 2 - ???. I think we'll typically use these during get-togethers of 6-8ish people, so probably skewed towards slightly higher numbers

Game Length: probably less than 1.5 hours. I think 45-minutes to an hour might be a sweet spot.

Complexity of Game: decently low. Especially if the goal is to play in group settings, my friends don't have the best attention spans

Your Budget: Not a huge issue, within reason. Consider the fact that I'm more of a casual board gamer and might have some sticker-shock.

Genre: ??????? Possibly games that are good for get-togethers?

Competitive or Cooperative: I don't think it matters as long as the initial issue is handled

Games I Own/Like or Dislike: As I mentioned, Telestrations is a good example of a game she enjoys. Games she does not enjoy: Things that have waiting periods. For example, dominion, codenames, chess, you get the idea.

She really likes puzzles, possibly because there's no waiting.