Any of the four Azul games. They are all loosely based on each other and the rules between them have similarities even though all four are a completely different experience. They fit that great middle ground of being simple to play but have strategic elements for those that want to be competitive.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azul_(board_game)" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azul_(board_game)</a>
Power Grid: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2651/power-grid</a><p>It's extremely well-balanced, automatically penalizing or rewarding players based on their ranking as of the previous turn. That prevents players from falling too far behind, and also adds an interesting timing dynamic to the strategy.
Terra Mystica (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/120677/terra-mystica" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/120677/terra-mystica</a>)<p>This game ruined Catan for me. No more sitting waiting for dice to roll in your favor or getting blocked by the robber. All information is public, there is no randomness, and you have to figure out how best to spend resources to maximize victory points while no falling behind city building. Serious, Catan sucks in comparison.<p>Ricochet Robots (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/51/ricochet-robots" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/51/ricochet-robots</a>)<p>Not the most in-depth game, but rounds are quick and it requires keeping a lot of state in your head to solve the puzzle in front of you. Also very fun to add in house rules to how pieces interact with each other (eg, the black piece is magnetic and drags others around) to make the puzzles more complex.
- Code names. It appeals to a wide crowd because you can approach it as creative fun, or a puzzle to be solved. And it leads you to figure out how the other players think, which is a fun way to get to know someone.<p>- Finca (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40628/finca" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40628/finca</a>) is a great game; very accessible with plenty of strategic depth. Sadly it's out of print.
I generally like party games over complex, rules-heavy or strategy-rich games and I hate time-pressure games. I play games to socialize, not for the games.<p>So in all honestly, Trivial Pursuit and variations, followed by whatever casual/party-style game is on offer, like Superfight or Cards Against Humanity.<p>I like the Unlock! series of "Escape Room" style puzzle games: <<a href="https://www.spacecowboys.fr/unlock-english" rel="nofollow">https://www.spacecowboys.fr/unlock-english</a>>. They're compact and a lot of fun to work together on, but not much replayabality.<p>For when I want something abstract/traditional, the Royal Game of Ur: <<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Game_of_Ur" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Game_of_Ur</a>> suffices, it's like a dumber backgammon. It's just enough game.
My favorite board game is Gloomhaven. It's a cooperative dungeon crawler with a "campaign" of sorts. There's also a slimmer version of it called Gloomhaven: Jaws of The Lion that is less expansive and expansive, but is a great introduction to the game and feeds into the main product. It's also fun in its own right.<p>Not strictly a board game, but very board game adjacent, I have recently been playing a lot of Magic The Gathering and having a lot of fun with it. I have had bouts of playing it over the years, essentially one a decade since I was born, and it feels as good as ever.
Evolution: Climate, a board game about being small furry/scaly creatures at the dawn of time. It uses a fun system of cards with abilities (defenses against carnivores, being able to survive too cold/too hot weather, being able to eat more food when it's available or survive famine) which can synergise very well, and with luck of the draw and a bit of thought you can make a small ecosystem of creatures which all benefit from each others' actions.
Love letter: 5 min game where you try to stand as last one. Every card has its unique powers. Princess rocks!<p>Exploding kittens: Its most backed kickstarter project( as they claim). You should have imploding, streaking and barking extensions, its where fun begins.<p>Cash & guns : Point prop guns to each other and win the most cash as a mafia.<p>Magic maze: No talking in the game. You must communicate with the pawn by hitting it on desk.<p>Pandemic: One of hardest games.<p>Epic spell wars: tongue twister game with combat fun!
I enjoy logistics optimization games, these two I like a lot:<p>Le Havre: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35677/le-havre" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35677/le-havre</a><p>Container: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/26990/container" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/26990/container</a>
Captain Sonar! It’s a 4v4 game reminiscent of battleship but you can move around and it’s played in real time. You can make moves as often as you want but do so by announcing them. The opposing team has a person whose sole job is to listen and use your revealed moves to deduce your location. Hectic as all hell.<p>Other than that Twilight Struggle for 1:1. Hopeful that ISS Vanguard will prove to be amazing.
Terraforming Mars (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/167791/terraforming-mars" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/167791/terraforming-mars</a>)
Betrayal Legacy.<p>I have a real soft spot for the flavour of the base game, Betrayal At The House On The Hill, even though I recognize it has flawed mechanics (some haunts can be absolute washes - depending on the configuration of the board at the time the haunt is triggered, it might be utterly unwinnable for one side or the other). Betrayal Legacy adds a compelling story throughline to repeated plays of the game, and some minor legacy mechanics (far less than, say, Pandemic Legacy). And, unlike many Legacy games, the "finished" board is still replayable!<p>I'm surprised not to see Twilight Imperium mentioned in here. It feels like a mash-up of three separate games with all the options and lines of play available, and somehow still manages to remain cohesive and not-overwhelming (the decision trees are broad, but you don't have to plan too deeply, so they can be evaluated quickly).<p>EDIT: each _individual_ decision in Twilight Imperium is not overwhelming; but a regular game will take 6-8 hours and if you are playing with expansions you probably need to schedule a whole weekend and leave the board set up overnight - so an overall game could well be called overwhelming, even if any individual portion of it isn't.<p>Taking a different tack, Dixit is a creative game that can highlight some interesting commonalities (or differences!) in how players interpret artwork.
Agricola got me into board games years ago, and it's always been a joy to go back to it. Uwe Rosenberg's games all have a similar vibe that just kinda works for my brain.
There's no board, but I find that Bananagrams has the fun parts of Scrabble with a faster pace (no waiting for your little brother to figure out his optimal word).<p>Stretching even further, I love cribbage (hey, there's a board involved!). Of all the card games I've played, I find it's the most compelling combination of chance & skill. Lots of room to apply strategy once you've learned the basic rules.
If you play the "heavyweight" games listed in other comments, there's generally also a need for "filler" board games that are much shorter and useful when someone has yet to arrive or it's getting too late for another full longer game.<p>King of Tokyo (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-tokyo" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70323/king-tokyo</a>) and Tiny Epic Galaxies (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163967/tiny-epic-galaxies" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/163967/tiny-epic-galaxie...</a>) come to mind.<p>Also, Guards of Atlantis (<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172965/guards-atlantis-tabletop-moba" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/172965/guards-atlantis-t...</a>) was interesting as a team-vs-team game conceptually similar to computer games like DotA or League of Legends.
In unranked order:<p>– Friedrich: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12891/friedrich" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12891/friedrich</a><p>– Small World: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/40692/small-world</a><p>– Through the Ages (admittedly I only played the digital version; if the bookkeeping is annoying physically, then I retract this one): <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-ages-new-story-civilization" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/182028/through-ages-new-...</a><p>– Battlestar Galactica (I know, big franchise-themed games tend to suck terribly, but this one is really good!): <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37111/battlestar-galactica-board-game" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37111/battlestar-galacti...</a><p>– Back an age ago when I was a student with infinite time, Diplomacy (not any more though, it's not as if whole days are free to give up to a single round of a board game): <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/483/diplomacy" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/483/diplomacy</a><p>– Race for the Galaxy: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-galaxy" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/28143/race-galaxy</a><p>– Twilight Struggle: <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12333/twilight-struggle</a>
Inis - Clever Celtic-themed area control game, with tight drafting of cards for actions, but the ability to gain some crazy special one-time actions unique from anyone else as well. Beautiful artwork on the cards as well.<p>Spirit Island - Clever cooperative game about building up spirits to protect native tribes and expel colonist invaders. Tons of variety, soloable.<p>Troyes - Love the puzzle of using dice to take actions, and you're not limited to your own dice, because you can buy the dice that other players drew (and pay them so they can buy dice off you in later rounds). There's no time wasted with negotiation either, you can buy them before they've gotten a chance to spend them. Lots of euro goodness surrounding that central mechanism as well.<p>Arkham Horror The Card Game - Story based campaigns where it's okay to lose a mission, the story will accomodate for it. Each campaign is very different from the others. Also great solo.<p>Bohnanza - My favorite light card and negotiation game<p>Kahuna - Super tight 2 player area control where you can build up conditions to start a cascade of destruction to go from losing big to winning big.<p>YINSH - favorite 2 player abstract, where you use rings to place tokens, jump other tokens to flip them (like Othello), and once you get a 5 in a row, you remove one of your rings, which makes you weaker but is also how you win the game.<p>Cribbage - 2 player. For such an old game, it's got a surprisingly modern point salad combo feel to it. Only annoying bit is how often you have to reshuffle, which isn't a problem if you play some of the excellent apps available.<p>Can't Stop - My go-to push your luck game. I enjoy rolling the four dice and making a decision of how to combine them into two pairs for numbers, advancing down those tracks, and deciding how long I think I can stay in without busting. It's possible to win the game in one turn if you get lucky enough, but odds are you will bust if you keep going too far, so at what point do you lock it in?
Robo Rally — a robot programming party game: <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=6E8fCba7y5w" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/watch?v=6E8fCba7y5w</a><p>Galaxy Trucker — a spaceship building party game: <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=_X7i6bfWNPA" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/watch?v=_X7i6bfWNPA</a><p>Race for the Galaxy — competitive card game: <a href="https://youtube.com/watch?v=o89L8kr-FK8" rel="nofollow">https://youtube.com/watch?v=o89L8kr-FK8</a>
Samurai Swords (aka Shogun) by Milton Bradley. It's a Risk like game, but way better balanced, where troop strength is limited to territory held, units are bought (you have cheap, but weak units, or strong, but expensive units) and turn order is randomized each round (although one can bid for turn placement). And there are two variations, the short game (first one to 35 territories wins) or the long game (first to hold 35 territories through a complete round wins) which can change the strategies used in the end-game.
My wife and I have gotten a lot of mileage out of playing these 1v1 games:<p><pre><code> - Twilight Struggle
- Hive
- Patchwork
</code></pre>
Choosing one really depends on mood. Twilight Struggle is the kind of game you have to buckle up and commit to playing for a while, but it's worth it. Hive and Patchwork are more bite-sized - both have enough complexity to be interesting, but with a much lower time commitment. You also have to refer to the rulebook less often with those two games. :)
Century - Golem edition: grab gems, grab cards, use cards to combine gems into other gems, use gems to buy points or cards.<p>Azul, as others pointed out.<p>A lesser known game:<p>- Titans Tactics: a game without randomness, very deep and intense 1v1 combat<p>An expensive game that is very immersive:<p>- Nemesis (all kickstarter expansions): a game set in something similar to the alien universe. Rules are meant to be very immersive, so for example an alien doesn't have hp in the traditional sense, they change hp on every hit, to simulate the fact that little is known about their anatomy.<p>Finally a master piece that feels like clockwork:<p>- Vinhos: wineries and wine making, competitive<p>I stopped playing coop games because I turned into an alpha player and hated myself in the process.<p>Sadly I don't play anything anymore, my kids are too young and will destroy my precious games.<p>We do play a board game called Catapult Castle that's intended for kids but fun for adults too
I enjoy crunchier board games, but the fun from games usually comes from playing them with others and most of the people I know don't enjoy games that take a non-negligible time to set up and explain the rules.<p>When playing with others, I'll grab games like
Tsuro - <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16992/tsuro" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16992/tsuro</a> - put down a tile, move tokens along the path, try to stay on the board the longest
Skull - <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92415/skull" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92415/skull</a> - a bluffing game where you can see the moment people grok the need to lie to win
Monopoly Deal - <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Hasbro-B0965-Monopoly-Deal-Card/dp/B00NQQTZCO" rel="nofollow">https://smile.amazon.com/Hasbro-B0965-Monopoly-Deal-Card/dp/...</a> - A questionable quality board game turned into a great pub card game<p>I have Long Shot - <a href="https://www.perplext.com/long-shot-the-dice-game" rel="nofollow">https://www.perplext.com/long-shot-the-dice-game</a> - on backorder at the moment, but it seems like a simple roll & write game that people can quickly pick up.<p>I'm solo playing Bruxelles 1897 - <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/275913/bruxelles-1897" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/275913/bruxelles-1897</a> - before asking my partner to try it. The rules are dense and it seems hard to explain the phases at the moment.<p>If you are looking for tons of board game reviews, <a href="https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/</a> and their youtube channel do a great job IMO of covering a wide range of game types.
My friends and I have moved away from SoC because the haggling that arises takes forever. Ticket to Ride scratches a similar itch with planning and competing over resources (train lines, cards) but gives each player a single action per turn so it moves much quicker.<p>Nothing beats chess for me though because of the infinite replay value and strategy depth.
Spirit Island; an asymmetric co-op game that the thematic opposite of Settlers of Catan; you play the native spirits of an island just starting to get colonized, trying to kill and scare off the colonizers before they get a fully develop the island.
- clank <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/201808/clank-deck-building-adventure" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/201808/clank-deck-buildi...</a><p>- rumble in the dungeon <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/130827/rumble-dungeon" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/130827/rumble-dungeon</a><p>both are pretty simple and casual, i'm a casual board gamer. i'm so bad at bluffing games we don't really play them.<p>i also really enjoyed playing magic the gathering when i had access to more cards. never really payed more than $50-100 during my time i played.
Betrayal at House on the Hill -- Explore a randomly generated haunted house where one of your friends will turn on the rest. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547/betrayal-house-hill" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/10547/betrayal-house-hil...</a>
"Trains" aka Ticket to Ride -- Easy to learn, difficult to master. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-ride</a>
Blood on the Clocktower. It's a recently released social deduction game (similar to Avalon and Werewolf) that has nearly unlimited setup combinations and presents a different puzzle every game. Players are allowed to continue playing until the end of the game, even after being "voted out," and every player is given some measure of agency via unique character roles.<p><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240980/blood-clocktower" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/240980/blood-clocktower</a>
My favourite are games I can play with my family: Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Tiny Towns, Santorini, Sushi Go, Potion Explosion, Forbidden Desert. But I'd love to have a friend to play Feudum.
Avalon is an amazing board game. It's like a version of Mafia that involves a lot more deduction, and players get to stay in the game until the very end.<p>Highly recommend everyone give it a try!
When I played as a kid, I loved: Advanced Heroquest, Axis&Allies (the original one), and a few others but I'm not sure about their names in English.
Maybe not absolute favourite (too hard to pick just one), but it's the one we come back playing again and again on our board game nights: Rise of Augustus - <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/137297/rise-augustus" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/137297/rise-augustus</a>
Mine is Arkham Horror LCG, one of the best coop games ever made. The complexity of the game is astonishing and the replayability is incredible. There are so many characters to play, builds to create, scenarios and variants. I could probably play this game for ten years and not be done yet!
It isn't my favorite but if you have the players (you really need 8), Captain Sonar is a lot of fun.<p><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/171131/captain-sonar" rel="nofollow">https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/171131/captain-sonar</a>
Space Alert. The time limit makes it extremely hectic. Most other games, you can think rounds ahead, but Space Alert throws that out the window. There's no "think for 5 minutes per move". It's also co-op, which I enjoy more and more as time goes on.
I have played really many boardgames but I think Isle of Skye is the game that is probably the one I would choose as my favorite one. It has a relatively simple auctioning mechanic and the point system makes it different every time.
Blood Bowl is probably as good fun as it gets in a company of four.<p>Board games I enjoy playing on the web: Acquire and Axis and Allies.<p>Board game I like to play on iPad: Risk<p>Board games I like to play with kids: Snakes and Ladders and Stone Age junior.
Dice Hospital - Dice Manipulation with a hospital ward theme<p>Zombicide Black Plague - mild-strategy Dice chucking dungeon crawler<p>Obsession - basically Downton Abbey: The Game<p>Kingdom Death Monster (only played it once, though) - Grimdark survival horror
I haven’t seen 7 Wonders listed yet. It’s fairly easy to get started but great in that you have to alter your strategy based on what board you get dealt and what your neighbor players are doing.
1. I’m a solid Monopoly nerd. I like the way it strikes the balance between skill and luck.<p>2. I’m uncannily good at Mad Gab, with the downside being that no one will play it with me anymore.
Because I haven't seen it mentioned and I think it is a very well-executed game: Pan-Am is quite fun and the event deck gives it a good deal of replayability.
Riichi mahjong. It's a surprisingly strategic traditional board game coming from Japan with several modern clients for online ranked play.<p>Also Neuroshima Hex.
for four players: Tigris and Euphrates<p>for three players: Ra<p>for two players: Quest for El Dorado or Azul<p>for solitaire: Agricola<p>Go is on my bucket list, I'll get "around to it" once I get some other stuff off my bucket list.
Secret Hitler. Kind of like a formalized game of mafia
Everyone is secretly assigned a faction: liberals or fascists and one person is hitler. Liberals have to work together to try and find out who the fascists are and win if they vote out hitler.
If you're looking for social deduction: Secret Hitler or One Night Ultimate Werewolf<p>If you're looking for turnbased strategy: Terraforming Mars or Twilight Imperium 4th edition if time allows<p>If you're looking for something quick and mathy: Hanabi