The best, most common example of this is the game of Monopoly.
Have you played Catan? I would argue it is a better example. I watched a marriage fall part across the table of a Catan game at a friends place. No joke, they're divorced now. Why I can't exactly point to Catan as the root cause, I would say it a strong example. :D
There are so many great games that can teach reasoning and logic in a safe (and exciting way).
I like Heat (its a board game about classic motor-racing). Pandemic is a great co-op board game, and requires hard work - and is potentially a good talking point about disease control, and ... well our very own Pandemic that we saw in the past few years, and there are so many more games out there.
Board games are so much more than Trouble, Battleship, Snakes and Ladders and the puzzles that I had growing up. They're much, much more sophisticated now.
Yes, I have a copy of Settlers of Catan. I would have considered it one of the better ones, though I did bastardize the rules slightly (removed the robber and soldiers) for my young kids. Sorry to hear about your friends experience.
I haven't tried Heat or Pandemic. Thanks for the tips there. Enough time before christmas to do a bit of research on those!
Totally agree that board games have evolved a lot in recent decades. They are no longer just frivolous dice-rolling games of chance and I think that's a great thing.