An engrossing RPG stuffed with branching storylines, miniatures, and a world that's influenced by your decisions, it's the sort of game you can lose yourself in for months. No, really - it'll take dozens of hours to complete. Crucially, it also leans on 'Legacy' elements. That means it features secret gameplay mechanics that unlock over time, ensuring the game never becomes stale. Looks can be deceiving, and Root is the perfect example. Despite an inviting art-style, this is about as hardcore a strategy game as it gets.
Multiple factions with their own special rules - not to mention objectives - leave plenty to get your teeth into. The action takes place in a quiet woodland realm, but all is not well beneath those trees; the animals that live there want to kick the stuffing out of each other, and you'll need to hatch schemes that'll put them on top.
Families have been arguing over board games for more than a century, and now there's enough choice to sink a Battle ship. Where should you start? We've got a few suggestions up our sleeve. No matter whether you want a quick distraction for a weekend get-together or something to do after Christmas dinner, these board games for families will hit the spot.
Ticket to Ride is one of the most laid-back board games on this list, and that makes it a great choice if you want something to play with your family. Thoughtful and relaxing, it's a delight for all ages. Sure, that railway theme may not light your world on fire.
But there's an undercurrent of strategy holding everything together, allowing it to hit the perfect balance of being family-friendly without losing any tactical depth. Catan whisks us back to the age of explorers; faced with an uninhabited island, players have to settle it before their opponents do. And because everyone's fighting to civilize the same frontier, clever manoeuvring is the order of the day.
Foresight and good communication are rewarded too thanks to the island's limited resources, so this favorite is one of the best board games for players that want more of a challenge. It may be set eons ago, but this board game isn't some dusty old relic. Your job is to help a legendary city like Athens achieve greatness through scientific discoveries, trade, military conquest, or by constructing one of the wonders of the ancient world. Because doing so requires cards from a shared pool, you'll need to keep an eye on what your opponents are doing to make sure they don't scupper your plans.
If friends and family are descending upon you en-masse, Articulate! Having appeared on shelves since , this is a trivia classic that almost anyone can get involved with. Its long life isn't a mystery, either; the rules are straightforward and easy to get your head around. Plus, its broad range of subjects mean you don't need to be a font of obscure knowledge to win. Azul is gorgeous to look at, and its gameplay is every bit as mesmerising.
A good description for this one would be 'color-based crossword'; you have to line up tiles to make patterns or complete the perfect set. It's a soothing process that's more of a personal puzzle than a head-to-head challenge, and that puts it alongside the best board games if you're a fan of head-scratchers.
Inspired by a French city of the same name thanks to its sprawling medieval walls, Carcassonne's board is created as you go. Because you earn points for placing meeple - little wooden people - on completed towns, roads, and farms, you end up in a high-stakes tug of war to steal settlements from under an opponent's nose or keep them away from your investments.
It's a must-have. Need board games for kids that'll delight your children but won't make you tear your hair out if you join in? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Regardless of whether you need something to take with you on the road or for an evening at home, you'll find the best board games for little ones and their grown-ups below. King of Tokyo is a great choice for big and little monsters alike.
Putting you in charge of tongue-in-cheek super-creatures that are based on classics like Godzilla, it's about stomping all over the city and getting points in the process. Fast-paced and full of character, it'll delight players of any age. Being able to play as a 'Space Penguin' also makes it a winner in our books. This bizarre little game is perfect if concentration is a problem; it's got the secret sauce of being fast-paced yet easy to understand.
More specifically, it can be completed in under 15 minutes. That means you won't mind playing round after round, especially because Sushi Go's gameplay is so moreish. It's different every time you pick it up, too - you never know which cards you'll be able to choose from. You can usually tell how good a board game is when it's got lots of special editions, and Spot It!
As well as a classic version, alternatives featuring everything from Harry Potter to Star Wars are available. And because all of them can be completed within 10 minutes or so, they're an essential purchase if you have young children.
If your kids love Halloween, Disney's Haunted Mansion adaptation is a must-have that needs to be in your collection. Offering a good balance between spooky vibes and wholesome fun, this is a strategic ghost hunt that gives you plenty of reason to smile. The game oozes personality, too - it's a visual delight with inventive mechanics to match.
What do you get if you throw Jenga and superheroes into a blender? Rhino Hero, that's what. A charming challenge of steady hands, this game challenges you to build a tower without it tumbling to the ground. And even though there are powerup cards to keep things interesting, Rhino Hero's simple rules that are light on text make it ideal for kids who don't like to read.
This game has a brilliant elevator pitch: the undead have invaded class, and you've got to fight them off unless you want endless detention with a zombie teacher. You then decide, based on which of the players you think will be the best asset, on a pack member to join you in answering those questions. However, you can also double your score for the round by going it alone and taking on everyone at once with your superior trivia skills. More so than straight trivia knowledge, this game rewards understanding the strengths of everyone at the table.
You might know a lot about baseball players, but if Jimmy McSportsfan is in your game group, can you really risk leaving them out of your pack? That means everyone should have a chance to shine, but no one will be able to go it alone every time. The party quiz game Linkee is all about building connections. Each card holds four trivia questions, the answers to each of which will be related in some way.
One thing that adds a level of strategy to Linkee is that you only get one guess per card, and can make it at any time, as the four questions are read out one by one. Head to head: These are the best 2 player board games. Just one thing after another, or so they say. In Timeline , players strive to slot their own event cards — each depicting a famous historical event — into a shared timeline.
This history-em-up has you competing to be the first to deplete your hand by correctly guessing the order of events and where your cards fit in. Timeline has surprising depth for such a simple concept. Because the timeline gets more and more cluttered as the game goes on, turns become increasingly trickier, which means finding the right order to play your cards is vital for success.
This is based not just on your own history knowledge, but also on the cards your opponents are laying, and therefore the parts of the timeline that are the busiest. Almost all trivia games have a bit of a replayability issue, and Timeline is no exception. Kentucky Avenue. Atlantic Avenue. Aunt Ermitrude. Aunt Agatha. Aunt Ingrid. Professor Plum.
Yacht Club Row. Countryside Acres. Millionaire Estate. You go back to start. You skip ahead three spaces. You lose a turn. Gramma Nutt. Timeline is a quick and fun educational game, and the card illustrations are appealing. More recent versions of the game come in travel-size tins, which are great for taking out and about, but only contain 55 cards, so after a few games you may remember the dates.
That limits replayability, but you can mix and match different sets each of which have different themes, such as inventions or British history to increase complexity, and older versions of the games have more cards. Players must score victory points not just by getting questions right but by taking risks. Each question card has three correct answers and three wrong ones. Do you play it safe by just making one, or push your luck and try to guess all three?
Everyone plays simultaneously, keeping everyone engaged and having fun. Upcoming board games 11 board game releases you should play this year. The best tabletop RPGs you might have missed in Roll meeples to build skyscrapers in next game from Mystic Vale designer. Tales from the Loop board game brings cooperative sci-fi investigation to retail in February. Set a Watch publisher reveals pirate board game, Seas of Havoc. If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission.
Read our editorial policy. Colourbrain A family-friendly quiz where every answer is a colour Players answer using multicoloured cards in Colourbrain. Shot in the Dark A quiz game where no-one will know the answer - give it your best guess Shot in the Dark lives up to its name with some questions that require highly specific knowledge. Would you bet on it? Blockbuster For film fans who remember renting VHS tapes Blockbuster is a movie trivia game seeped in nostalgia, from its VHS case box to the car park board.
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