The Best Board Games You’ve Likely Never Played Before

There are tons of fantastic board games on the market right now. Some of the most popular fall under the category of Eurogames. It’s a category of board games that typically involve more strategy than luck and attempt to keep all players engaged to the end. In addition, these games have great attention to detail and beautiful artwork.

So if you’re looking for a fun and engaging board game this winter, put away the Clue or Monopoly and try one of these new games. They typically have a really quick learning curve and will provide for countless hours of fun.

1. Catan

159

Players:  3-4

Time to play: 60 minutes

Catan is a fun game and one of the most popular among my friends.  In Catan, the goal is to be the dominant person on the island of Catan by building cities and roads.  The dice is rolled to determine what the island produces and then players work to collect these resources.

Buy it:  Amazon

2. 7 Wonders

770

Players:  3-7

Time to play:  30 minutes

7 Wonders focuses on building your ancient empire and scoring as many victories as possible.  The game lasts three ages and in each age, players select a card from a set and then pass the remaining cards to the other players for them to select.  The cards are then revealed simultaneously.  It’s a concise game with a lot of different strategies and multiple ways to win.

Buy it:  Amazon

3. Ticket To Ride

Players:  2-5

Time to play:  30-60 minutes

Ticket to Ride is one of the most popular board games on the market ride now. And for good reason (5 stars on Amazon with over 2,000 reviews). The board is a map and the goal is build train routes between the cities.  There are limited paths and that’s where the strategy comes into play – to get the connections before the other players do.

Buy it:  Amazon

4. Carcassonne

Players:  2-5

The Carcassonne is a tile-laying game.  Carcassonne is a city in southern France and players draw tiles to develop the area around the city. You earn points by placing one of your eight tokens on a tile to claim the road or city.  It’s a great game with lots of strategy and variation.

Buy it:  Amazon

5. Pandemic

Players: 2-4

Time to play: 60 minutes

This is a great game and one that you don’t compete against the other players.  Rather, the players work together to beat the game The goal is to eradicate the world of four diseases and each player has unique skills to travel and treat the diseases.

Buy it:  Amazon

6. Forbidden Island

510

Players: 2-4

Time to play:  30 minutes

Like Pandemic, Forbidden Island is another cooperative board game where the players work together to win the game.  In this case, the goal is to prevent the island from sinking.   As the game progresses parts of the island begin sinking faster and faster and the players need to work together and strategically to win.

Buy it:  Amazon

7. Dominion

Players: 2-4

Time to play: 30 minutes

Dominion is my favorite game.  It’s a great recommendation for an intro into Eurogames and it worked for me.  I was hooked.  It’s a classic “deck building” game where players work to collect cards and can use those cards to buy other cards.   The goal is to collect as many victory points as possible before time runs out.

Buy it:  Amazon

8. For Sale

998

Players: 3-6

Time to play: 20-30

While not technically a Eurogame, For Sale is a really fun, fast past game that includes a lot of strategy. Players bid on properties, but you have to really think through how much you want to spend on each as other players may get a deal on others if you pay to much. Once you have bought your properties you then “flip” them in turn for currency cards.   Whoever earns the most money wins.

Buy it:  Amazon

 

Photo by gadl

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About the Author
Will Schuerman
Will loves discovering and sharing tips to help make life easier. In addition to his passion for hacks and tips, Will is a former granola business proprietor and a life long techie.

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