For as much as I’ve loved video games ever since I was young, I’ve been equally into playing board games and other tabletop experiences for most of my life too. Whether it was passing the time with a game I only barely understood the rules of as a kid, or hanging out with my brother and playing a four-hour-long game that I also don’t understand the rules of (have you seen how confusing some games are these days), board games are something I enjoy a lot. Here are my Top 10 favorite!
Let’s get into it!
(Rest assured, there’s plenty of amazing board games that just barely didn’t make the cut. Plus, also quite a few that I most likely forgot while putting together this list. I’ve played so many board games, it’s hard to always keep them all in mind!)
10) Monopoly
Yeah, yeah, go ahead and laugh. I think Monopoly is actually a pretty good game. It gets a bad rap online for being a game that can go on for hours (which to be fair it can), but I really enjoy how many underrated mechanics there are in the game, that it feels like most people don’t know about. Trading is a big one, and is a great way to spice up a game. Maybe the secret sauce is just to play with three players or more? I’m not sure, I just know that I do legitimately think this game is pretty good.
9) Neopets: Adventures in Neopia
This is the obligatory “game I was obsessed with as a child” pick, but honestly I think it still holds up (as long as you acknowledge it’s ultimately a silly kid’s game). The entire premise of the game is to earn as many points as possible, and you earn those points by visiting different spots on the map and participating in minigames. And I mean that as literally as possible, you have to use all these different pieces and play areas to do these minigames, some even using the empty board game lid! It’s inventive, it’s creative, and it means that you’ve got almost infinite paths to victory in this game depending on which minigames you choose to prioritize. It’s silly and really fun, and a very chill game.
8) Kamigami Battles
I’ve only played this game a few times so far, but I’ve enjoyed it each time. A lot of that has to do with how much I adore games that play similarly to trading card games or deck builders, but what really appeals to me about this game (aside from the anime aesthetic, which I do find visually pleasing) is the combo system. Every card has a color, and it also has a sub-color. On your turn, you can play one card, then an additional card that matches the sub-color of the first card. But then you can play a third card if it matches the sub-color of the second…and so on and so forth. It takes the strategy already inherent in deck builders and adds an additional combo layer that, while complicated, adds so much engrossing complexity to how you choose to take down your opponent!
7) Titanium Wars
One of my favorite things in board games is being able to play around with different techniques each time through, and that works really well in this game. Your goal is to earn points by claiming planets. How do you go about that? Well, basically however you want. It’s got a shop setup like a deck builder, but there’s no deck building here. You just spend your money each turn on buying ships, upgrades, and defenses, and craft your own strategy to win. There’s no objective right answer, there’s no wrong answer, you just do whatever you want and see how it plays out. There’s basically no luck involved in the game either because battles work based on the cards you play, not dice or anything like that. That’s a HUGE plus in my book.
6) Zombie Fluxx
There actually aren’t too many basic card games that I enjoy, and I don’t know if I could quite say why. I’ve just never really meshed with the likes of Uno and such. But I really enjoy this game. Some of that has to do with nostalgic memories of playing it for hours and hours in study hall back in high school. But I do also think it’s really neat. The rules and mechanics constantly change each turn, as does the victory goal. You might be seconds away from winning only to lose it all, or in last place and suddenly finding yourself the victor. Add in tricky zombies and alternative mechanics, and it’s a game that is wholly unpredictable and super fun.
5) Star Wars LIFE
While I’ve never had much affinity with the original rendition of the LIFE board game, I adore this Star Wars-inspired version! It’s not necessarily…a great game. The entire thing is luck-based, the Dark Side path is wildly unbalanced (though thematically creative), and you’re never really in control. But it gets bonus points for how uniquely it leans into the Star Wars theming, and I just can’t stay mad at it. I love being assigned a lightsaber, getting a Jedi master, going on missions, and then clashing with my opponents at the very end before the Council. The more you embrace the silliness and the role-playing aspect, the more enjoyable the game becomes. And it’s not too long, so it doesn’t grossly overstay its welcome or anything.
4) Scythe
So, let me make it clear off-the-bat that this might be objectively the best board game I’ve ever played. The scope of the game board, the variety of playable characters and unique mechanics and abilities, the neat hook of mech building. Above all I have to shoutout two things. First, the infinite ways you can play. You could play this game one hundred times and still find new ways to craft a strategy or try something a little different. Despite being a competitive game, it’s very focused on what you choose to do on your corner of the world. Secondly, there’s no demonstrable luck involved in the game. For a game this huge, that blows my mind. Victory depends entirely on strategy, which is simply amazing.
The only reason three other board games place ahead of this one is because they are also extremely good, and they have the benefit of years worth of memories. I’ve only played Scythe for the first time two-ish years ago.
3) Star Wars Epic Duels
An all-time classic so beloved and incredible that it has a huge (and still quite popular) custom-creation fandom on the internet! Take your favorite characters from the original six Star Wars films, place them on game boards styled after iconic locations from the movies, and then duke it out on a grid-based movement system using cards to dictate your attack, defense, and skills. It’s got so much of what I love in board games: a board with little pieces to move around, card-based mechanics, and limited luck (you roll to move around, but you honestly don’t need to move much anyway, and that’s it). And there’s so much variety with all the included characters you can mix-and-match with!
Plus, I seriously can’t praise enough how awesome the online community is with regards to the hundreds of custom characters. There’s even a free download for a software where you can easily make your own, and I’ve enjoyed dabbling in it to bring some of my favorite niche characters to life!
2) Marvel Legendary
Imagine all the ways I praised Kamigami Battles and Titanium Wars, and then multiply those cool features by a thousand. It’s a deck builder first-and-foremost, so you follow that same general pattern of buying new cards to slowly evolve your strategy over the course of a game. But then you just sprinkle in a Marvel coat of paint and more variety than your brain could ever comprehend. There’s so many heroes, so many villains, so many schemes and twists, so many gameplay mechanics…it’s enough to make your head spin. It (and the entry below this on my list) is a game with infinite replayability, and I adore that.
Much of that comes from the add-ons, which introduce so much new content and concepts that the game can almost evolve to be something brand new (did you know there’s a game mode where another player can act as the villains?). But even if you’re only able to get a hold of the base game, that’s still more than enough to recognize how fantastic this game is.
1) Betrayal at House on the Hill
I actually go back-and-forth quite a bit between this game and Marvel Legendary taking the top spot, but ultimately I have to give it to this game. It holds a special place in my heart thanks to not only the sheer number of times I’ve played it, but also the fact that I’d wanted it for years but never had the money for it, only for one of my best friends to purchase it for me for my birthday one year, catching me by complete surprise!
It’s the pinnacle of replayability in terms of board game design. The house has a wholly different layout every time you play. Phase Two triggers one of a hundred possible storylines that drastically change the second half of the game by revealing a player as a traitor (in most cases). Everyone has different stats and items each time you play. It’s a game that is literally impossible to experience the same way twice. Even if you get the same storyline and the same player is the traitor, the house will look totally different. Or even if the house ends up remarkably similar between playthroughs, you’ll have a new storyline and traitor!
Does luck play a decently-heavy factor in this game? Yeah, actually it does. Which, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t like (and I still don’t love it or anything). But when everything else about the game is so much fun, and so varied, and so unique each time you step foot into this haunted house? I’m willing to overlook that for a game as fantastic as this.
But hey, that’s just my opinion!
The Contrarian Corner 