Board games rated

You'll roll dice to determine your actions and potentially gain victory points, and special playing cards will give your monster a new effect, like a second head that lets you roll an extra die, body armor, and more. King of Tokyo is easy to learn, and each round lasts only about a half-hour, making this a quick and fun family game to teach to a new group.

Blood Rage is a board game inspired by Norse mythology, casting you and your fellow players as Vikings during the time of Ragnarok. Your ultimate goal is to go out with a bang, earning glory to secure your place in Valhalla, and there are several strategies you can adopt to achieve this.

At the beginning of each round, or "Age" there are three , you'll be dealt cards called Gods' Gifts, giving you various abilities that you can then craft your strategy around. You'll use the game's resource, Rage, to perform actions, and winning a battle isn't always the goal--sometimes, you'll win glory points for being defeated.

At the end of each Age, a piece of the board is removed, and anyone on that portion is sent to Valhalla, earning even more glory for the players whose forces were there. With detailed miniatures and fantastic artwork, Blood Rage is an excellent strategy game where the end goal isn't survival, but earning the most glory before you take your place at Odin's side in Valhalla.

Blood Rage is also available on Steam though reviews for the digital edition are mixed. Inspired by the H. Lovecraft novella, Mountains of Madness casts you and your friends as scientific explorers scaling a mysterious mountain in the middle of Antarctica. The problem: the higher you and your party climb, the more the mountain will begin to affect your mental health.

To ascend the mountain, you and your team must pass a series of timed challenges that require quick and effective communication to pool a certain number of cards, and this task becomes much harder as your team begins to collect madness cards. Madness cards are the core mechanic driving the chaos in this cooperative board game, as they add new rules that make communicating increasingly hard.

There are three levels of madness cards, and you may have to "upgrade" to a harder one if you and your team even partially fail a task and you will Needless to say, Mountains of Madness descends into chaos as the madness cards get more ridiculous and the tasks get more difficult. It's a hard game to win, but that doesn't make it any less fun. Azul is an easy-to-learn game where you collect tiles based on azulejos , a type of Portuguese tile used as decoration in buildings.

The game's premise is that you're an artist decorating the walls of the Portuguese king's palace, but you're competing against other players to complete a full row of tiles on your player board first. To do this, players take turns drafting tiles from the center of the table, placing them in a repository on the left side of your board. At the end of a round, you'll move one tile from your repository onto the corresponding row on your wall in a colored space that matches the tile.

After someone completes a full row and the game ends, players can earn bonus points for their number of horizontal and vertical lines and for filling all tiles of a certain color, so there are multiple scoring conditions to keep in mind beyond just filling a single row. Wingspan is a newer board game released in , but it's become an instant hit, winning the Kennerspiel des Jahres award and selling out at launch. In Wingspan, you play as bird-watchers looking to bring the best birds to your different habitats.

To add a bird card to one of your four habitats, you have to pay various costs, but it pays off--the more birds you add to a certain habitat, the more powerful your actions will become.

You'll also get special abilities and perks from the birds you have in play, which adds to the fun problems that test your problem-solving skills. At the end of the game, you'll win if you have the most points--these come from completing end-of-round goals, played bird cards, eggs, secret bonus cards, and more.

The art style is absolutely gorgeous, and the cards also include fun facts about each species at the bottom, making it one of the better family board games out there if your kid is interested in learning about birds as they play. However, Wingspan is also one of the best board games for adults as it has a lot of depth and strategy to it, and it now comes with the Swift-Start Promo Pack, which offers a quick tutorial to help you learn the game and start playing fast.

An official digital version is also out now on Steam and the Nintendo eShop. Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is one of the most fun social deception games we've ever played, and it's a great choice for big groups as well, as you can play it with up to 12 people.

In Deception, you play as a team of investigators who are interpreting clues to solve a murder, with one person playing as a forensic scientist, who has the knowledge needed to convict the murderer but can only express that through their analysis of the murder scene for example, facts about how the victim was killed, the setting, the time of day, etc. Each investigator has their own set of weapons and evidence that everyone else in the group can see, and the team must work together to identify which person is the secret murderer within the group, based on items and evidence that could match the forensic scientist's analysis.

Basically, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is like Werewolf or Mafia meets Clue, and with each playthrough lasting only 15 to 30 minutes, you can easily play several rounds with people taking turns in different roles. Coup is a card game about bluffing and bribing your way to power, so get ready to put on your poker face before challenging your friends. In Coup, you're the head of a power-hungry family in an Italian city-state, manipulating your way to the top of a corrupt court.

Here's how it works: A card deck in the middle of the table players draw from contains multiples of five different characters, each of whom has a unique ability, and each player starts with two face-down character cards. Because no one knows which cards you have, you can bluff and use a character's unique ability, like stealing from the treasury or attempting an assassination, even if you don't have that card in your hand.

At any time, another player can challenge whether you actually have that card. If you do have the card in your hand and choose to prove it, they'll have to lose one of their cards. On the other hand, if you're bluffing or choose not to reveal the card in your hand, you'll lose one of your own cards, turning it face-up on the table. If both of your characters get turned face-up, you're out of the game.

Coup is easy to learn, and rounds will only take you about 15 minutes to play, making it a great card game to whip out at parties. If you love playing Tetris, you'll probably enjoy Patchwork, a two-player game where you place Tetris-like tiles on a 9x9 board of squares to slowly assemble a quilt.

Each player has a stash of buttons, which you use to purchase tiles for your quilt, and you'll also keep track of your progress on a separate time board, which will net you more buttons and tiles as you progress.

By the end of the game, you'll be scored based on how many buttons you have left, subtracting 2 points for each empty tile still left on your board.

Patchwork is a relaxing game to play--there's something satisfying about fitting tiles together and searching for the perfect piece to fill space on your board, even when there's no hand-eye coordination involved. Two-player board games like Patchwork are also nice to have around if you live with just one other person, as you'll always have a game you can play together.

It's available on Steam too. Even those who don't play board games have probably heard of Catan, a classic board game that focuses on resource-gathering and settlement-building that's simple to learn and addictingly fun. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products.

List of Partners vendors. The 7 Best Board Games for Adults in Break out one of these picks for a competitive night of fun. By Meredith Hurd Meredith Hurd. Meredith Hurd is a relationship and marketing writer based in Los Angeles. She reviews decor and home products for The Spruce. Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process.

Our Top Picks. Best Overall:. Strategy and tactical thinking are the most important qualities to have when playing this beloved game of civilization building. Best Trivia:. The master edition of this classic game pumps up the competition with 3, questions on new topics like pop culture and technology.

Best Two-Player:. With rounds of just fifteen minutes, this strategy game asks players to build the most beautiful and high-scoring quilt. Best Strategy:. The hardest part of this game isn't the game itself, but the levels of strategy, deduction, and deception involved.

Best Cooperative:. Great for up to four players, this game relies on creative problem solving and teamwork to help protect the world from outbreak. Best Competitive:. A remix on the well-loved original, it includes fun details like Gold Dragons-themed currency and Iron Throne cards. Best Icebreaker:. This visually pleasing game is engaging but also fairly slow paced, allowing for more conversation and less competition.

In This Article Expand. Journey through a vibrant but deadly land to uncover the key to lifting your curse. Lead your unique Scottish clan to economic might via production, trade, and export. Cooperatively program and pilot your mechs to defeat an army of marauding minions. Play as Rebel or Imperial forces to fulfill mission objectives. Establish a supply chain by collecting resources, building industries, and shipping.

Be a part of the first Martian colony, striving to be the best contributor. Amass a fortune, and stake your reputation by operating a lucrative art gallery. Artfully embellish the walls of your palace by drafting the most beautiful tiles. Compete to reconstruct the city of Lisboa after the great earthquake of Pull ingredients from your stock to make your pot bubble, but hopefully not explode!

Lead your civilization through strategic drafting of leaders, technologies, and more. Flick discs and make trick shots in this traditional Canadian dexterity game! Megacorporation versus Netrunner in this futuristic cyberpunk game of cat and mouse. Invaders are coming from everywhere.

Keep the faith and defend your homeland. Construct dikes, drain bogs, harvest flax and tend to newborn animals in East Frisia. Worlds await! Colonize, develop and conquer taking advantage of others' choices.

Work together — with friends or with Friday — to survive on a deserted island. Claim your treasures but don't attract the dragon in this deck-building dungeon race. Use your worker dice to raise the legendary and breathtaking Pyramid of the Sun. Using unique abilities, fulfill contracts and reach your goals along the Silk Road. Draft cards to develop your ancient civilization and build its Wonder of the World. Help your farm to prosper in this updated, streamlined edition of the acclaimed game.

Deploy agents and hire adventurers to expand your control over the city of Waterdeep. With an ice age approaching, which animals will best propagate, migrate, and adapt? Serve guests and prepare rooms to be the best hotelier in the Viennese modern age. Exploration, battle and diplomacy in a dark Arthurian realm. Compete in a unique auction system to build the most prosperous village. Work together during the Cold War to prevent a Soviet bio-threat.

Will you be a virtuous or nefarious servant of the king? Build your way to glory. Use your caballeros to control regions of medieval Spain, keeping clear of the King! How can the human race survive when you don't know who is actually human? Epic empire-building game of interstellar conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Defend the city and rise to power by influencing the merchants, knights and clergy. Enlist torturers, swindlers, and saboteurs to gain wealth and dominate the kingdom. Acquire shares of unique companies and propagate their trading posts to rake in cash.

Heroes explore Middle-earth, working together to combat evil in an epic campaign. An unknown Elder God approaches the world—and you must solve mysteries to stop it. Gather your Viking crew in order to plunder seas and lands for glory! Lead your clan to victory through negotiation, combat, monsters and favors from Kami. Piece together a quilt and leave no holes to become the button master. Rescue as many island cats as you can before Lord Vesh comes to destroy their home. Avoid excommunication and lead your family to power during the Italian Renaissance.

Keep your Mesopotamian civilisation in perfect balance through revolutions and wars. Decipher your opponents' code before they decipher yours. Don't get caught. Manage and rule all aspects of Ancient Rome with a clever action selection mancala. Gloomhaven Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 Brass: Birmingham Terraforming Mars Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion Gaia Project Star Wars: Rebellion War of the Ring: Second Edition Spirit Island Great Western Trail Twilight Struggle Scythe The Castles of Burgundy Nemesis Dune: Imperium Concordia Based on classic Disney movies old and new, Villainous casts you as a famous baddie looking for their happily-ever-after: Maleficent must place a curse on each area of the board, Jafar needs to get his hands on the lamp, Ursula wants Triton's trident, and so on.

But that's not the coolest part. In an inspired twist, each villain has unique abilities inspired by their personality from the films. As an example, King John's got underhand methods of sponging money from his foes.

For added spice, you're also attempting to scupper your opponents' plans while working toward your own. That's because you can drop pesky heroes like Ariel on top of them to block their moves, making the game a whole lot more devious. OK, so it's a pain to explain for the first time. But trust us. You'll be hooked once you've gotten the hang of it, and it really is one of the best board games out there - not to mention one of the top board games for 2 players.

Gorgeous artwork and playing pieces serve as icing on this very appealing cake, and there's plenty more where that came from. Disney Villainous expansions add other beloved characters to the fun, while Marvel Villainous gives the formula a comic book spin. If friends and family are descending upon you en-masse, Articulate! Having appeared on shelves since , this is a trivia classic that almost anyone can get involved with. Its long life isn't a mystery; the rules are straightforward and easy to get your head around.

Taking it turns, a member of each team must describe as many words from a category as they can within 30 seconds… but they can't say what that word sounds like or rhymes with. This means you'll need to think on your feet. However, thanks to a broad range of subjects including Nature, World, and Action, you don't need to be a font of obscure knowledge to win.

Instead, this game hinges on your ability to verbalize something not to mention how in sync you are with your teammates. It's a must-have that belongs in everyone's collection. Unlike so many of the best board games, it can also be played in a massive group of 20 people or more. So long as you're divided into teams of at least two per side, there's no real limit.

That makes it a real winner for parties and one of the top board games for families. Gloomhaven is one of the best board games if you want a deep and engrossing RPG to lose yourself in.

With a box stuffed full of miniatures, enemy encounters, and over 1, cards, this is the sort of fantasy experience many of us have been dreaming of since we were kids.

In a gritty adventure not unlike the Witcher series, players take command of adventurers questing through and around the titular city. Naturally, that involves more than a little dungeon-delving along the way.

And because these encounters don't rely on random dice rolls to resolve combat, it feels more meaningful. Speaking of which, a branching narrative results in consequences that carry over from one session to the next - your choices matter.

As such, everyone's experience of Gloomhaven will end up being different particularly because your characters can be used in the upcoming sequel, Frosthaven. That makes it a more manageable introduction to the kind of gameplay you'd see in the best tabletop RPGs.

Keen to try it out before taking the plunge? Be sure to check in with the cheaper and more accessible Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. It offers the same gameplay on a smaller scale. Catan whisks us back in time to the age of explorers; faced with an uninhabited island, players have to settle it before their opponents do. And because everyone's fighting to civilize the same frontier, clever manoeuvring is the order of the day. That makes this favorite one of the best classic board games on offer.

Your first battleground is deciding where to put down roots. As well as the landscape varying from game to game, the resources you'll need to build with are driven by probability - each player rolls dice at the start of their turn to see who gets a payout, and some locations are more likely to yield results than others. That means you'll need to think hard about which areas you claim.

Foresight and intuition are definitely rewarded. Good communication is important too. You won't have access to everything you need right away, so trading with rivals is essential if you want to get ahead. That leaves players with a fun balancing act to navigate.

Even though swapping resources gets you what you need, it also nudges opponents closer to their goals. That's why Catan is one of the best board games for tactical thinkers; there's loads to play with here. You can even shake things up with alternate versions or expansions.

A Star Trek-themed set is now available, for example, and a handsome 25th Anniversary Edition with bonus features has just arrived. Its namesake may be long gone, but Blockbuster: The Game is still the life of the party. This movie quiz is fast-paced and surprisingly brutal, but it's never unfair.

In fact, it's the best board game for get-togethers by quite a long way. Its accessibility has a lot to do with that. Namely, you don't need to be a film buff to play.

As it says on the very cool VHS box, Blockbuster is a "movie game for anyone who has ever seen a movie". No in-depth knowledge is required, and that makes it so much more approachable than other trivia games.

The gameplay is solid as a rock, too. Up to eight players are divided into teams, and each side's objective is to collect a deck of 'genre' cards. Yet this isn't a traditional quiz. It round begins with a one-on-one challenge where you're handed a category e.

You then reset the second timer. Whoever can't think of anything within that time loses. Which is important, by the way - the winner gets to pick six movie cards for 'Triple Charades Jeopardy'.

This is where both players from the head-to-head act out, quote, and describe three of those cards for their team. The trouble is, they only have 30 seconds to do it.

That's why winning part one is so important; you can keep the easy cards for yourself and saddle your opponents with the hardest ones. Looks can be deceiving, and Root is the perfect example of that.

Despite a bright and inviting art-style that's reminiscent of the Redwall series, this is about as hardcore a strategy game as it gets. The action takes place in a quiet woodland realm, but all is not well beneath those trees. To be precise, the anthropomorphic animals that live there want to kick the stuffing out of each other. You command one of several factions vying for power from the ruling Marquise de Cat to mouse villagers , and they each have unique mechanics that set them apart from one another.

Although it's a lot to wrap your head around, doing so is worth the effort. This is one of the best board games for tactical thinkers.

Especially because it encourages players to think creatively. Root rewards unusual strategies, and you'll need to learn the ins and outs of a particular faction to get the most out of them.