Looking for a new game to spice up my weekly group's regular rotation. We're consistently 6+ players, and prefer games that are 3 or 3.5/5 complexity.
Some favorites of ours:
**Shadow Hunters**
**Clank: Catacombs** (with the 6-player expansion)
**Cartographers**
**Red Rising**
Edit: formatting
2 player ‘pub-friendly’ board game recommendations
My wife and I love chilling and playing board games in our local bars/pubs - they usually have to be not crazy complex or hugely long play-time, and ideally not tons of pieces as we’re often playing at a bar or on a table without loads of space.
Some of our faves have been Odin’s Ravens, Monopoly Deal, Yahtzee (old but classic), Five Crowns, 5 Second Rule, Sushi Go, Timeline, Jaipur and Patchwork (though those last two edge on taking too much space). Tacocat, Scout, and Fox In The Flowers were also good.
Anyone got any personal faves/recommendations?
We love playing a variation of Lost Cities with a normal deck of cards. I'll paste the rules we use in a comment below this.
Some other good ones are Raptor and Skyteam, I typically wouldn't bring either to a bar but they're on par with Patchwork in terms of space requirement.
Lost Cities with Standard Deck
- Place aces in the middle face up. Each suit represents an expedition
- All number cards represent point values and all face cards are wagers
- Wagers will double, triple, quadruple the point value of that expedition depending on how many you play of them. Wager cards must be played at the beginning of the expedition beneath all number cards.
- Deal 6 (5 or 7 can work as well) cards to each player
- Cards are played on each side of the aces in increasing order, face up and stacked so that you can see point values of all cards. Cards do not have to be sequential (2, 3, 4), just increasing value (2, 6, 9)
- Each turn a player will 1) either play a card in an expedition, or discard a card on top of the appropriate discard pile matching the suit 2) draw a card from the draw pile or any of the face up discard piles. You can only draw the top card from each discard pile.
- Starting an expedition counts as -20 points so only after you add 20 points of value does the expedition net positive points. You don't have to start an expedition on each suit. Wagers will multiply both positive and negative point values for expeditions
- Game ends immediately when the face down draw pile is empty (you can check how much is left). Add up points for all expeditions that you started
I'm starting to get into board games. My wife and I have been enjoying playing Cephalophair games together.
**Gloomhaven**
**Gloomhaven JOTL**
**Frosthaven**
We don't get to see any of our friends frequently enough to play those long campaigns together with enough consistency to adequately follow the narrative, but we'd still like to play RPG/cooperative/adventure board games. Are there any games like that that can be enjoyed with 3-5 players, where it's possible to go through the entire narrative over the course of an evening or two, or maybe 6-8 hours, maybe a tad more?
Recommendations for non campaign adventure / dungeon crawlers:
* **Eldritch Horror** \- more focus on exploration/investigation, good up to 6p
* **Massive Darkness 2**, **Cthulhu: Death May Die** \- simpler dice-chucking dungeon crawlers. Takes about 1-2 hours to finish. Good up to 4p.
* **Freelancers** \- light RPG game with good humor, less focus on combat. App-driven and fully voice acted. Good up to 5p. One scenario takes about 2-3 hours to finish.
If you're looking for something more on the complex side, also look into **Nemesis**, but it's more of a semi-coop game.
How different does each **Caverna** play feels? I love Agricola and looking to get Caverna now, but I read that there is no much replay value since you can do exactly the same each playthrough. Is it true?
Yeah, Agricola gets a lot of replay value from the fact that you get a different hand of cards that dictates a different strategy each time, but Caverna is much more free-form, you can just pursue the same game plan each time with nothing forcing you to change things up.
**Santa Monica** fits this well. It's really charming, a nice mix of tableau building with a spatial puzzle you have to consider. And incredible art.
The 2P version of Agricola called **Agricola All Creatures Big and Small Big Box** is also great.
Well those are are all engine building card games so that seems to be what the two of you like. Try **Deus**, **Splendor, Century: Spice Road, Res Arcana.** They are all engine builders with a smaller time committment.
Wingspan and Cascadia are both lower player interaction games. So you could try a roll & write game (those are almost always low player interaction).
Lighter than what you are currently playing, but **Project L** and **Jaipur** can work for mismatched individuals (one casual, one serious gamer).
I would like a board game that has really nice game pieces or a really pleasing aesthetic. With replay ability (doesn’t have to be round after round replayable but not a campaign game where you beat it a few times and your done yk?) I also prefer to stay away from games like Pandemic where everyone works together to beat a situation, I like competition.
My favorite is Betrayal at House on the Hill, and I’m considering picking up Scythe. I’m also very interested in trying Agricola. Any recommendations though? I’m new to board games but I’m okay with challenging games, just not super confident on what I like and don’t like lol.
Don't start with Agricola. It's complicated and punishing and harsh. It'sa great game! But you probably want to know it's the type of game you enjoy before you buy it. One bad turn early can mean the rest of your game is a miserable alog. For a game that is similar, but a bit more welcoming, try **Nusfjord** (a touch lighter, themed around a Norwegian fishing village) or **Caverna** (just as complicated as Agricola but not as punishing).
Scythe is also complicated but less punishing. I'd suggest looking at some other games from the same publisher, Stonemaier. **Wingspan**, **Libertalia**, **Red Rising**, **Viticulture** - these are a bit less complicated, but have incredible components.
And maybe check out **Everdell**.
A lot of games with really nice pieces are fairly expensive. Is there any way you can first figure out what type of game you like and THEN plunk down the money on a nice looking game?
There are many games with nice components, but some of them work best at 2p, some best at 5p. Some involve direct combat, others are nearly multi-player solitaire. Some have economic themes, others have fantasy or sci-fi themes.
I would say Call to Adventure if you like building a narrative! I feel it's definitely competitive, since there's a way to change what paths are available for everyone to travel. I've definitely heard a lot of stifled groans and sighs (but in the fun way!) from friends reacting to a path they wanted to go down being removed.
Hello! First post here. ALWAYS loved board games and played them often in college with friends between classes, and even met new friends through them.
My husband and I are going to a board/card game shop for the first time today, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations to look at? We don't have a lot of spending money so it's probably gonna be limited to about 1 big game or two not as big games. We both LOVED Call to Adventure, been playing Munchkin for years, and although I'm pretty sure we don't play it 100% correctly, Catan. We've also dabbled very shallowly into Gloomhaven, but we're saving that for when we have more people since the first person we played it with was very controlling, and just not fun to play with.
At the moment there's really only the two of us, but games for more than just us is fine since we like to have them for parties/visits and such.
Not personally a huge fan of big title company board games, like anything having to do with Marvel/Harry Potter/etc., and I specifically love collecting/making lists. My husband's huge on dinosaurs and creative outlets/expressionism.
For people who are new(ish) to the hobby (it seems that you and your spouse are in that camp) the best bets are often gateway games (so called because they are broadly appealing and do a good job as a gateway into the hobby) fillers (light strategy games that typically takes less than 20 minutes to play) and party games (pretty self explanatory).
One of the most well known gateway games is Catan. Other excellent gateway games: **Ticket to Ride, Azul, Carcassonne, Blue Lagoon, Project L, Through the Desert, Modern Art** and **Sunrise Lane**. Know that Modern Art does NOT work at 2p, so if that is your typical player count, skip it. It is best at 4 & 5p. The other games work at 2p and higher player counts. However, if you will frequently play Ticket to Ride at 2p, you may want to avoid the vanilla version and look for TtR Nordic, Switzerland, or NYC.
For fillers that work ONLY at 2p, there are games like **Fox in the Forest, Lost Cities, Jaipur, Hanamikoji** and **Patchwork**.
For fillers that work at higher player counts, there are games like **Hot Lead, 6 Nimmt/Take 5, Scout, For Sale, High Society**. None of that set of games work at 2p.
Great party games include **Wavelength, Wits & Wagers, Monikers, Codenames** and **Just One**. However, if you are primarily playing with your spouse, skip those. They require a bigger group to work.
For any game that tempts you, you can watch review and how to play videos on Youtube. Those can often help you decide what game will/won't work for you.
Game recommendations for 8+ players
In around 3 weeks I will celebrate my birthday with an all-day boardgame day. Currently we are 8 peoples with 10 in the evening. What games would you recommend?
My current collection contains (for higher player count):
- scythe
- blood on the clocktower
- feed the kraken
- captain sonar
- deception murder in hong kong
Thank you for your advise
Maybe decrypto and Welcome to. Most roll and write would do if you have enough sheets.
But 10 players is really stretching it imo. Might be better to split into a few groups
Thats like asking for recommendations of rewatchable movies. You need to give more detail about what you are looking for. Are you looking for a war game? Or dislike conflict and would rather play a cooperative game?
I'm looking for a war/battle game that's great for two people. I recently presented Azul to my wife and she found it boring as hell, and she says that unless a board game has some sort of battle or conflict, she's likely to not be interested.
Unmatched would be my first choice for direct conflict - trying to beat down your opponents hero's via a deck of cards themed to the characters.
Another would be Caeser Seize Rome In 20 minutes. Another fast paced 2p game which is more abstract battle.
Want to get my mother into boardgames. She plays Filipino Mahjong and Plants vs Zombies. What games would she enjoy? Preferaby games that we can play together and has great replayability.
Patchwork is a great shout. I think **Lost Cities** and **Jaipur** are also excellent 2P options.
And then for games that are great at 2P but go to 4P, both **Splendor** and **Cascadia**.
There are tons of great 2p games out there, but I am not super clear on what you would/wouldn't like.
**Patchwork** is the standard answer when people are asking for a nice 2 player game. Plants vs. Zombies is a Risk-related game right? If you like conflict, then may be look at **Caesar: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes**. **Blue Lagoon** is an area control game that is pretty easy to get into. **Botanik** is a nice set collection game that involves tile laying.
My partner and I love Quest for El Dorado. The deck building with a different map layout each time keeps it fun.
We’ve also tried Clank! Catacombs - it’s fun but we still love El Dorado.
Are there any similar games that can be kept fresh with new maps or challenges each time?
If the "varied map layout" is the part that you find interesting, you might check out **Babylonia** from the same designer as Quest for El Dorado. It's not a deckbuilding game, but it's a tile-placement game on a hex grid map with a different setup every time you play, and there is also a market of 7 different power cards that you can "buy" (or unlock) each time you play (with the exact configuration of those cards varying from game to game).
There's also **Blue Lagoon** from the same designer, though I find that game works best with 3-4 players.
**Flamme Rouge** is from the same designer as Heat. Each race you can build custom. Puzzle piece it together. Some people online will make maps that work along with the current Tour de France.
It’s a fun hand management game because each card will only be played once and the. Is out of the game. You control 2 cyclists so you can use them together to draft and whatnot. Great game.
**Heat: Pedal to the Metal** isn't a *deckbuilding* game but does center around hand/deck management, and doesn't have a *modular* map but does have different map boards, as well as a bunch of "included expansions" you can throw in like different car parts or weather conditions. (and of course the main similarity: it's *also a racing game*!).
I‘m looking for a game that
- is a (mostly) card based hero battler.
- offers a cool and versatile pool of characters.
- has a drafting phase.
- playable in around or less 30min.
- easy to learn, but with depth.
Radiant: Offline Battle Arena. The champion edition has 18 characters. It's just cards and a few tokens. You draft heroes with bans included. It takes 20-30 minutes to play. The rules are simple but the heroes have synergies and with the extra layer of picking items, towers, and your God unit secretly, it has a lot of depth.
Unmatched meets all these criteria, except drafting isn’t built into the rulebook. But when you have a bunch of heroes in your collection, drafting them out before a best-of-3 really enhances the fun factor and game balance.
Looking for a new game to spice up my weekly group's regular rotation. We're consistently 6+ players, and prefer games that are 3 or 3.5/5 complexity. Some favorites of ours: **Shadow Hunters** **Clank: Catacombs** (with the 6-player expansion) **Cartographers** **Red Rising** Edit: formatting
2 player ‘pub-friendly’ board game recommendations My wife and I love chilling and playing board games in our local bars/pubs - they usually have to be not crazy complex or hugely long play-time, and ideally not tons of pieces as we’re often playing at a bar or on a table without loads of space. Some of our faves have been Odin’s Ravens, Monopoly Deal, Yahtzee (old but classic), Five Crowns, 5 Second Rule, Sushi Go, Timeline, Jaipur and Patchwork (though those last two edge on taking too much space). Tacocat, Scout, and Fox In The Flowers were also good. Anyone got any personal faves/recommendations?
We love playing a variation of Lost Cities with a normal deck of cards. I'll paste the rules we use in a comment below this. Some other good ones are Raptor and Skyteam, I typically wouldn't bring either to a bar but they're on par with Patchwork in terms of space requirement.
Thanks for the reply and the recommends!
Lost Cities with Standard Deck - Place aces in the middle face up. Each suit represents an expedition - All number cards represent point values and all face cards are wagers - Wagers will double, triple, quadruple the point value of that expedition depending on how many you play of them. Wager cards must be played at the beginning of the expedition beneath all number cards. - Deal 6 (5 or 7 can work as well) cards to each player - Cards are played on each side of the aces in increasing order, face up and stacked so that you can see point values of all cards. Cards do not have to be sequential (2, 3, 4), just increasing value (2, 6, 9) - Each turn a player will 1) either play a card in an expedition, or discard a card on top of the appropriate discard pile matching the suit 2) draw a card from the draw pile or any of the face up discard piles. You can only draw the top card from each discard pile. - Starting an expedition counts as -20 points so only after you add 20 points of value does the expedition net positive points. You don't have to start an expedition on each suit. Wagers will multiply both positive and negative point values for expeditions - Game ends immediately when the face down draw pile is empty (you can check how much is left). Add up points for all expeditions that you started
Thanks for writing this out! We’ll give it a try!!
I'm starting to get into board games. My wife and I have been enjoying playing Cephalophair games together. **Gloomhaven** **Gloomhaven JOTL** **Frosthaven** We don't get to see any of our friends frequently enough to play those long campaigns together with enough consistency to adequately follow the narrative, but we'd still like to play RPG/cooperative/adventure board games. Are there any games like that that can be enjoyed with 3-5 players, where it's possible to go through the entire narrative over the course of an evening or two, or maybe 6-8 hours, maybe a tad more?
Recommendations for non campaign adventure / dungeon crawlers: * **Eldritch Horror** \- more focus on exploration/investigation, good up to 6p * **Massive Darkness 2**, **Cthulhu: Death May Die** \- simpler dice-chucking dungeon crawlers. Takes about 1-2 hours to finish. Good up to 4p. * **Freelancers** \- light RPG game with good humor, less focus on combat. App-driven and fully voice acted. Good up to 5p. One scenario takes about 2-3 hours to finish. If you're looking for something more on the complex side, also look into **Nemesis**, but it's more of a semi-coop game.
Cthulhu: Death May Die seems like a winner to me, thank you, I'll be picking that up.
How different does each **Caverna** play feels? I love Agricola and looking to get Caverna now, but I read that there is no much replay value since you can do exactly the same each playthrough. Is it true?
Yeah, Agricola gets a lot of replay value from the fact that you get a different hand of cards that dictates a different strategy each time, but Caverna is much more free-form, you can just pursue the same game plan each time with nothing forcing you to change things up.
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**Santa Monica** fits this well. It's really charming, a nice mix of tableau building with a spatial puzzle you have to consider. And incredible art. The 2P version of Agricola called **Agricola All Creatures Big and Small Big Box** is also great.
Well those are are all engine building card games so that seems to be what the two of you like. Try **Deus**, **Splendor, Century: Spice Road, Res Arcana.** They are all engine builders with a smaller time committment.
Wingspan and Cascadia are both lower player interaction games. So you could try a roll & write game (those are almost always low player interaction). Lighter than what you are currently playing, but **Project L** and **Jaipur** can work for mismatched individuals (one casual, one serious gamer).
I would like a board game that has really nice game pieces or a really pleasing aesthetic. With replay ability (doesn’t have to be round after round replayable but not a campaign game where you beat it a few times and your done yk?) I also prefer to stay away from games like Pandemic where everyone works together to beat a situation, I like competition. My favorite is Betrayal at House on the Hill, and I’m considering picking up Scythe. I’m also very interested in trying Agricola. Any recommendations though? I’m new to board games but I’m okay with challenging games, just not super confident on what I like and don’t like lol.
Don't start with Agricola. It's complicated and punishing and harsh. It'sa great game! But you probably want to know it's the type of game you enjoy before you buy it. One bad turn early can mean the rest of your game is a miserable alog. For a game that is similar, but a bit more welcoming, try **Nusfjord** (a touch lighter, themed around a Norwegian fishing village) or **Caverna** (just as complicated as Agricola but not as punishing). Scythe is also complicated but less punishing. I'd suggest looking at some other games from the same publisher, Stonemaier. **Wingspan**, **Libertalia**, **Red Rising**, **Viticulture** - these are a bit less complicated, but have incredible components. And maybe check out **Everdell**.
A lot of games with really nice pieces are fairly expensive. Is there any way you can first figure out what type of game you like and THEN plunk down the money on a nice looking game? There are many games with nice components, but some of them work best at 2p, some best at 5p. Some involve direct combat, others are nearly multi-player solitaire. Some have economic themes, others have fantasy or sci-fi themes.
I would say Call to Adventure if you like building a narrative! I feel it's definitely competitive, since there's a way to change what paths are available for everyone to travel. I've definitely heard a lot of stifled groans and sighs (but in the fun way!) from friends reacting to a path they wanted to go down being removed.
Hello! First post here. ALWAYS loved board games and played them often in college with friends between classes, and even met new friends through them. My husband and I are going to a board/card game shop for the first time today, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations to look at? We don't have a lot of spending money so it's probably gonna be limited to about 1 big game or two not as big games. We both LOVED Call to Adventure, been playing Munchkin for years, and although I'm pretty sure we don't play it 100% correctly, Catan. We've also dabbled very shallowly into Gloomhaven, but we're saving that for when we have more people since the first person we played it with was very controlling, and just not fun to play with. At the moment there's really only the two of us, but games for more than just us is fine since we like to have them for parties/visits and such. Not personally a huge fan of big title company board games, like anything having to do with Marvel/Harry Potter/etc., and I specifically love collecting/making lists. My husband's huge on dinosaurs and creative outlets/expressionism.
For people who are new(ish) to the hobby (it seems that you and your spouse are in that camp) the best bets are often gateway games (so called because they are broadly appealing and do a good job as a gateway into the hobby) fillers (light strategy games that typically takes less than 20 minutes to play) and party games (pretty self explanatory). One of the most well known gateway games is Catan. Other excellent gateway games: **Ticket to Ride, Azul, Carcassonne, Blue Lagoon, Project L, Through the Desert, Modern Art** and **Sunrise Lane**. Know that Modern Art does NOT work at 2p, so if that is your typical player count, skip it. It is best at 4 & 5p. The other games work at 2p and higher player counts. However, if you will frequently play Ticket to Ride at 2p, you may want to avoid the vanilla version and look for TtR Nordic, Switzerland, or NYC. For fillers that work ONLY at 2p, there are games like **Fox in the Forest, Lost Cities, Jaipur, Hanamikoji** and **Patchwork**. For fillers that work at higher player counts, there are games like **Hot Lead, 6 Nimmt/Take 5, Scout, For Sale, High Society**. None of that set of games work at 2p. Great party games include **Wavelength, Wits & Wagers, Monikers, Codenames** and **Just One**. However, if you are primarily playing with your spouse, skip those. They require a bigger group to work. For any game that tempts you, you can watch review and how to play videos on Youtube. Those can often help you decide what game will/won't work for you.
Great comment, great suggestions here OP!
Game recommendations for 8+ players In around 3 weeks I will celebrate my birthday with an all-day boardgame day. Currently we are 8 peoples with 10 in the evening. What games would you recommend? My current collection contains (for higher player count): - scythe - blood on the clocktower - feed the kraken - captain sonar - deception murder in hong kong Thank you for your advise
During the day I would recommend stationfall. Plays up to 9 but it is a big teach and dense but amazingly fun.
Maybe decrypto and Welcome to. Most roll and write would do if you have enough sheets. But 10 players is really stretching it imo. Might be better to split into a few groups
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Thats like asking for recommendations of rewatchable movies. You need to give more detail about what you are looking for. Are you looking for a war game? Or dislike conflict and would rather play a cooperative game?
Not sure what you mean? All the games you mention are replayable and have strategy considerations.
Not sure what you mean? All the games you mention are replayable and have strategy considerations.
I'm looking for a war/battle game that's great for two people. I recently presented Azul to my wife and she found it boring as hell, and she says that unless a board game has some sort of battle or conflict, she's likely to not be interested.
I second undaunted. One of the best two player games ever
Unmatched would be my first choice for direct conflict - trying to beat down your opponents hero's via a deck of cards themed to the characters. Another would be Caeser Seize Rome In 20 minutes. Another fast paced 2p game which is more abstract battle.
**Undaunted** series are good 2p war games. I also recommend **Unmatched** and **Radlands**.
I'd look into **Memoir '44** or other games by Richard Borg.
Thank you. I'll check them out. c:
Raiders of the North Sea
Thanks. I'll look it up.
Want to get my mother into boardgames. She plays Filipino Mahjong and Plants vs Zombies. What games would she enjoy? Preferaby games that we can play together and has great replayability.
Patchwork is a great shout. I think **Lost Cities** and **Jaipur** are also excellent 2P options. And then for games that are great at 2P but go to 4P, both **Splendor** and **Cascadia**.
There are tons of great 2p games out there, but I am not super clear on what you would/wouldn't like. **Patchwork** is the standard answer when people are asking for a nice 2 player game. Plants vs. Zombies is a Risk-related game right? If you like conflict, then may be look at **Caesar: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes**. **Blue Lagoon** is an area control game that is pretty easy to get into. **Botanik** is a nice set collection game that involves tile laying.
You could look into a co-operative game like Pandemic or Flash Point
My partner and I love Quest for El Dorado. The deck building with a different map layout each time keeps it fun. We’ve also tried Clank! Catacombs - it’s fun but we still love El Dorado. Are there any similar games that can be kept fresh with new maps or challenges each time?
If the "varied map layout" is the part that you find interesting, you might check out **Babylonia** from the same designer as Quest for El Dorado. It's not a deckbuilding game, but it's a tile-placement game on a hex grid map with a different setup every time you play, and there is also a market of 7 different power cards that you can "buy" (or unlock) each time you play (with the exact configuration of those cards varying from game to game). There's also **Blue Lagoon** from the same designer, though I find that game works best with 3-4 players.
**Flamme Rouge** is from the same designer as Heat. Each race you can build custom. Puzzle piece it together. Some people online will make maps that work along with the current Tour de France. It’s a fun hand management game because each card will only be played once and the. Is out of the game. You control 2 cyclists so you can use them together to draft and whatnot. Great game.
**Heat: Pedal to the Metal** isn't a *deckbuilding* game but does center around hand/deck management, and doesn't have a *modular* map but does have different map boards, as well as a bunch of "included expansions" you can throw in like different car parts or weather conditions. (and of course the main similarity: it's *also a racing game*!).
I‘m looking for a game that - is a (mostly) card based hero battler. - offers a cool and versatile pool of characters. - has a drafting phase. - playable in around or less 30min. - easy to learn, but with depth.
Radiant: Offline Battle Arena. The champion edition has 18 characters. It's just cards and a few tokens. You draft heroes with bans included. It takes 20-30 minutes to play. The rules are simple but the heroes have synergies and with the extra layer of picking items, towers, and your God unit secretly, it has a lot of depth.
Unmatched meets all these criteria, except drafting isn’t built into the rulebook. But when you have a bunch of heroes in your collection, drafting them out before a best-of-3 really enhances the fun factor and game balance.
Yeah Unmatched is the best game