We love to play. And fortunately, we live in a time when we can give free rein to our imagination and desire to have a great time with our friends. We are in a golden age of gaming and have an offer we have never seen before.
For this reason, in Xataka, we have selected the best board games. 37 examples with which the fun, anger, the strategies that desire to distract and disconcert the opponent and to achieve the objective becomes almost a vital theme.
7 Wonders
‘7 Wonders’ and its expansions already enter the group of games that we never get tired of. Resource management in which we have three eras to become the best civilization thanks to achieving victory points and improving our wonder.
Agricultural
With a great new edition where it has undergone various changes for the better, Agricola is a highly complex game in which we put ourselves in the shoes of a farmer who, after a terrible famine, starts again trying to prosper on his land.
Adventurers to the train!
Although there is a certain “debate” as to whether the original game or the one set in Europe is better, Adventurers on the Train! is an exciting game whose objective is to build the longest railways.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
With a touch of gothic horror movies, ‘Betrayal at House of the Hill’ takes us on an adventure in a house that keeps a curse unleashed by one of your companions, a traitor. Fun and exciting game.
Brass: Birmingham
The Brass Martin Wallace is mythical, but in its sequel, the designer seems to surpass himself. In Brass: Birmingham we move to the channeled city to put ourselves in the shoes of entrepreneurs willing to be the most prosperous in industrialized England. An economic strategy game that is simply outstanding.
Carcassonne
How not to put one of the great classics of introductory games here? Little by little we are building the landscape of the French town with roads, castles, and monasteries with which we will gather victory points thanks to our villagers. Fast and addictive, somewhat random, but in which it is convenient to have a strategy. You can not ask for more.
Secret code
Two groups of secret agents and nobody knows who is which. Through a dynamic of keys and passwords, players must discover who makes up their team.
Coimbra
Just because of how beautiful the design seems to me, ‘Coimbra’ may deserve a place. But it is that this euro is a quite fresh proposal. This time we put ourselves in the shoes of a rich man from the flourishing city of Coimbra who must win the favor (and have control) of the upper echelons of society. Thanks to its dynamics, no two games are the same… and that is appreciated.
Settlers of Catan
Resource management game where we must take control of an island (in the basic game), Catan is one of those responsible for the playful revolution that we are experiencing. It is a valuable entry point for generations and generations of new players.
Dead of Winter
Winter in a post-apocalyptic setting. Survival instincts and psychological wear (and moves) take their toll on the players, who must cooperate to discern which decisions are best to make in favor of survival.
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
‘Descent’ is a dungeon exploration game in which two sides face each other: the heroes and the overlord. It is one of the clearest exponents of the heroic fantasy genre that has inspired many games.
Dixit
One of the recent “classics” of the ludic world, in Dixit we become storytellers who build sentences around cards. In each turn, the narrator invents something around a card, the rest of the players choose one of their cards that they think fits that sentence, and, later, they must assess which one was the narrator’s.
Dominion: Intrigue
We are facing a card game in which we are building our deck little by little to beat our rival by creating the best kingdom. A game of fast and addictive game that is superior to the Original Dominion.
Eldritch Horror
That Lovecraft is one of the most influential authors in fantastic horror and there are great games inspired by his stories. If you like Arkham Horror, ‘Eldritch’ takes us from one end of the world to the other, looking for and completing missions that help us prevent the arrival of the Ancient One.
Feudum
Mixed sensations are the ones left by this game of medieval economy, monsters… and too many elements. I think the expression that can best describe it is diamond in the rough. Somewhat excessive (duration, size, dynamics), not suitable for the casual player, but amazing and irresistible.
Gaia Project
Successor to Terra Mystica, we at the Gaia Project are one of fourteen factions seeking to peacefully conquer the galaxy. Resource management, investment in technology, and an ideal game for those of us who want something demanding, complex, and outstanding.
Gloomhaven
The game that this is is incredible. A manual dungeon crawler in which we can play either in casual mode or in campaign mode. From here what we do in a game will haunt us in the following. It might be scary to have a rulebook that looks more like Dungeons & Dragons than a board game, but it’s so worth it.
The big one
We move to medieval Spain (well, don’t expect too much historical accuracy) in a game in which the objective is to gather the greatest number of knights in the eight regions of the Iberian Peninsula.
War of the Ring
Games of the Lord of the Rings there are many, and it seems that there is a certain consensus when talking about the best being ‘War of the ring’ where the Free Peoples and the side of the Shadows face each other to dominate Middle-earth while the Fellowship of the Ring advances towards Mordor.
Hanabi
Hanabi is one of those games that are very simple but, in turn, can become addictive. We have some big fireworks to set up, but boy, are all the materials mixed up. A cooperative in which the objective is to achieve a successful show.
Game of Thrones: The Board Game
Although it always gives the impression that games based on franchises are usually worthless, ‘Game of Thrones’ is well worth a game. The objective? dominate the main cities of Westeros and, by extension, have the Seven Kingdoms under our feet.
King of Tokyo
For those of us who love to be the bad guys and destroy things, there we have the ‘King of Tokyo’ waiting for us, a great game in which we are a great monster with the sole purpose of destroying the city.
Lords of Waterdeep
Game of the Forgotten Realms franchise of Dungeons and Dragons, in Lords of Waterdeep we are the powerful lords of a splendid city in search of taking full control of the place. Eight rounds to get the most points.
The Mansions of Madness
We talked about Lovecraft before, and we have to repeat with him with this other game: ‘The Mansions of Madness’ leads us to investigate and stop the machinations of the sinister Guardian, a player who controls the monsters.
Nemesis
If we are fans of the Alien franchise, this is a spectacular game that takes the best of that world offering us a semi-cooperative survival. With a spectacular design and presenter, Nemesis offers us long, replayable games full of twists and tension.
Pandemic: Legacy
The original caused a sensation and Legacy has surpassed it. Following the guidelines of the Pandemic and its deadly outbreak, you and your companions will travel the world trying to stop this disease through several games, unique, and immersive, and each one is affected by the previous one.
Patchwork
One of those games where you wonder why not do the “real deal”. Game for two players where you compete to create the best quilt, piece by piece and as they fit together.
Puerto Rico
One of the great resource managers, set in the Puerto Rico of the recently conquered America. Our goal is to be the one that ships the most merchandise to the continent through action decisions and minimizing chance.
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island’
A great cooperative that has the grace that you can easily vary the difficulty before starting each game. As you can imagine from the title, we will be a group of shipwrecked people who will have to survive on a deserted island: we have to break camp and complete a mission.
Root
Don’t be fooled by its childish appearance, since we find ourselves with a very complex game in which we will have to compete to be the legitimate rulers of the area. The root will put our most strategic side to the test.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective
The great shame of this game, which is all text, is that it is practically unplayable since once each case of the ten that come in the original (which has been exhausted in Spanish for years) has been solved, it loses some of its fun. However, it’s a tough game, complicated but ideal for creating a murder mystery night at home… or, true story, a camping cluedo.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault
Another franchise that has games is Star Wars. In Imperial Assault (currently out of print) we live Star Wars in its most epic sense with great battles between the rebels and the Empire, at a time when they are weakened after the destruction of the Death Star.
Through the Ages: a new history of Civilization
One of the most similar games, with its differences, to when all you want to do in the Age of Empire or Civilization is go your own way and develop your stuff.** Starting in the bronze age**, in this complex game you will have to develop culture, technology, society, science… to be the best civilization.
Tigris and Euphrates
At a “lower level”, but pretty good all the same, we have the Tigris and Euphrates where we must rule, in the cradle of civilization, agriculture, commerce, religion, and government.
Twilight Imperium
Four editions and, according to what they say, each one better, are the ones that have been active in this magnificent game in which we will seek to control the galaxy after the fall of the empire that ruled it until now.
Twilight Struggle
You put a game on the recent history of Humanity on me and I get rid of it. USA vs USSR starting after the Second World War and ending with the fall of the Berlin Wall, in this game you fight to be the best superpower of the Cold War.
Wingspan
A precious board game in which we become passionate ornithologists willing to have the best birds in your aviary. One of its advantages is that the game doesn’t have a very long default duration, which makes it a great option for those who don’t want to spend the whole afternoon playing.
Sharlene Meriel is an avid gamer with a knack for technology. He has been writing about the latest technologies for the past 5 years. His contribution in technology journalism has been noteworthy. He is also a day trader with interest in the Forex market.
