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Board Games Worth Playing at Your Next Game Night

19 items

Rebecca Mehalic

Every month new board games come out which expand beyond the traditional games of monopoly, checkers and Risk, and in many ways are more complex. Board games have become one of my favorite past times with friends and family and this list includes sev...

Sections

Deck Building Board Games

Strategic Board Games

Co-operative Board Games

Deck Building Board Games

One of my favorite type of board games are deck-builders, which involve constructing a deck over time. Here are my personal favorites and ones that make great starting points for these types of games or those who like TCG games.

7 Wonders is a fun deck-building game with multiple ways to win (through scoring the most number of points). It also has several expansions and is an easy game to learn with most games lasting 30-45 minutes.

7 Wonders

Dominion is one of the most popular deck-building board games and for good reason. It's a great introductory game to deck-builders and is pretty easy to pick up and has a lot of replay value.

It's also been around for quite a few years and has a plethora of expansions.

Dominion

Harry Potter: Battle for Hogwarts is a cooperative deck-builder in which you and at least one other player work together to construct decks to take down some of the franchises most notorious villians. This is a very fun game with a high amount of rep...

Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle

This Lord of the Rings deck builder is a well-balanced game and is perfect for anyone who at least knows a little about the franchise (and most certainly fans of it). One of the things I like about it is that it has a high replay value and I've playe...

LOTR: Fellowship of The Ring Deck Game

DC deck builder is a competitive deck building game in which you recruit a team of fighters to beat some of the most notorious DC villains. You'll need to be quick and strategic to be the first one to get the most points!

I really enjoy this game and have played it multiple times with friends. It has a good replay value and options to customize the game set-up. There are also other versions (including a villain one!) as well as a few expansions.

DC Deck Building Game

Clank is one of my all-time favorite board games. In it, you journey into the depths of a dungeon to find treasure and avoid being killed by the dragon. It's a board game that's both a deck-builder and one with a board game that works in tandem. It a...

CLANK!

Munchkin is a massively popular deck building game that has been around for quite a while. In it, you slowly raise your character level while equipping armor, weapons and special abilities in order to reach level 10 first.

There are a TON of expansions and alternate versions of this game ranging from South Park to Disney, Marvel and more.

Munchkin

Here to Slay is a fun game for anyone who enjoys dungeons and dragons or other role playing games. You'll work to construct a party, equip them and then try to be the first one to defeat three enemies. This is a fun, relatively quick game that has a ...

Here To Slay

This is a well-developed, albeit quite complex deckbuilding game. I do not recommend it for anyone who hasn't played deckbuilders before. It is based off of the Mistborn book series but you don't need to have read it in order to enjoy this game. I we...

Mistborn

Strategic Board Games

Games that involve a bit of thinking and are loads of fun along the way.

Catan is one of my all-time favorite board games and many consider it to be one of the best of all time. For good reason too. It's a balanced, challenging and fun board game that involves a bit of thinking ahead, cooperativeness and competition. It's...

Catan has also seen a ton of expansions over the years, special versions (including a Star Trek and Prehistoric version). There is also a 5-6 player expansion which keeps the game balanced even with additional players.

Catan

Splendor is one of my favorite board games and its a great 20-30 minute game to play. It's easy to learn to play and involves a bit of strategy and luck(timing). Players will purchase cards while building resources (coins) and the first person to get...

There is also a Marvel version of splendor (which is what I have personally) that it a slightly modified version of the base game.

Splendor

Ticket to Ride pits you againist other players in a race to build a solid train track to different locations. This is a really fun game that offers a good amount of replay value. The base version covers the United States but several other versions ha...

Ticket to Ride

Betrayal House on the Hill is a fantastic horror-based game in which you and friends journey through an old house, uncovering its many secrets. There are actually over 100 different scenarios so it'll take a long time to play through them all. This i...

Betrayal at The House on The Hill

Co-operative Board Games

Sometimes you have to work together to win.

Codenames is a quasi-cooperative game. You are working on a team with at least one other person but you're also facing off against another team. In the game you give clues to your compatriot about which tiles they need to select and hopefully they do...

There is a two-player version of this game and there have been other versions released.

Codenames

Forbidden Desert sees you and at least one other friend crash land your plane in the desert. You must work together with other players to find the pieces to your ship before the storm overwhelms you and escape.

This is a great cooperative game and one I've played numerous times with long-time board game fans and those dipping their feed into the board gaming world outside of monopoly, so it fits a wide variety of gamers. There are also other versions of the...

Forbidden Desert

Pandemic is a cooperative game where you and friends work together to stop a virus ravaging the planet, discover a cure and save the world. It's a really fun game and one that involves a bit of strategic planning (think Risk but it has a much quicker...

There are expansions to the base game and “season” versions where you work over the course of a year to stop an ever-complicating virus.

Pandemic Board Game

Flashpoint is a cooperative game where you and at least one other friend work together to rescue several people (and pets!) from a burning building. It won't be easy because the fire and smoke are spreading and an explosion may happen!

This game has an easy and difficult mode, as well as a few expansions. It's not an easy game and can take a little time to learn but its a really good cooperative game.

Flash Point: Fire Rescue

Hanabi is a fun cooperative game in which you and up to four friends try to build a firework display before the time runs out.

Hanabi

Mysterium is a fun cooperative board game in which you and friends work as paranormal investigators to uncover the mysteries surrounding a murder based on clues. It's a fun game and perfect to play around Halloween (especially with spooky music in th...

Mysterium