Next Level Game Nights
If you enjoy board games, then you know they can be a hit or a miss and are as likely to break friendships as they are to make them. Since you’re putting everything on the line for a bit of fun, you might as well make sure you play these top 20 board games.
1. Monopoly
A classic well-known game around the world, Monopoly has been the source of family feuds for almost a century. If you have ever wanted to be a real-estate tycoon and make everyone else pay for visiting your property, now you can. Just make sure you don’t get too upset when they skip over all of your properties and avoid paying you for turns on end.
2. Risk
Risk is another one of those family game night board games everyone knows and loves. The game is to use your armies to occupy every territory in the world and eliminate other players. It’s a perfect balance of strategy and mind games with your opponents, as well as a sprinkle of dice luck.
3. Sorry!
This is one of those games that can shift from very exciting to your blood boiling in just one dice throw. The key to the game is to get your pawns all around the map and into the safety of their home before other players. If someone lands on the same spot as your pawn, though, you get sent all the way back to the beginning and they get to say “Sorry!”, even though you know they are not.
myguitarzz on Flickr on Wikimedia
4. Clue
A board game where players work together to solve a mystery sounds like a great time. This can, however, turn into a feud very quickly, as players might try to use mind games to get others off the right track. Good luck finding out who the mystery culprit is if one person starts steering in the wrong direction.
Alexander Lyashkov on Unsplash
5. Battleship
A classic strategy board game, Battleship has been a go-to game for many for a long time. The excitement of sinking another player's ship is an amazing feeling, especially if you get the whole five spaces correctly in one go. It can get a bit frustrating if you did not agree on the rules beforehand, and your opponent decides to “bend” the rules by making L-shaped ships.
6. Settlers of Catan
A game that became many people’s favorite board game of all time, Settlers of Catan is a very fun and exciting board game. The objective of the game is to be the first to gain ten victory points, and this can be done by a number of accomplishments. It gets very heated when someone blocks your path or steals your resources, though.
7. Guess Who?
A quick and easy game to learn and play. Guess Who is a game for two people, and it has had many strategies throughout the years. Asking questions like “Does your person have blonde hair?” helps you narrow down who your opponent has picked. The best part of this game is that you can play it several times in a row, as the rounds can be quite short and fast.
8. Trivial Pursuit
A board game that can be played with up to six players, Trivial Pursuit tests everyone’s trivia knowledge. The goal of the game is to answer the questions correctly to earn points and win the game. Questions for this game can range from very easy, all the way to “who would even know that?”, making the game very exciting and sometimes frustrating.
9. Scrabble
A fun game and a great way to exercise your brain, Scrabble has been a staple of board games for decades. The concept of the game is simple; you have to form words with letter tiles that you get. Make sure you remember the longest words in the dictionary, as those earn you the most points.
10. The Game of Life
The Game of Life is one of the top choices when it comes to family game nights. This game is for up to six players and involves making life choices for your character. Choosing between career and college is tricky, as it is in real life. This game at least softens the blow.
11. Pictionary
Pictionary is a fun combination of board games and drawing. It’s played in teams, which can get a bit frustrating, especially if you match with someone who isn’t really that good at drawing. The first team to reach the end of the board wins, while the other team goes back to practicing their drawing skills.
User François Haffner on fr.wikipedia on Wikimedia
12. Connect Four
A two-player strategy board game, Connect Four is the ultimate rivalry game. Trying to connect four dropping discs onto a grid while the other player is sabotaging you and trying to connect their own can be a very fun and thrilling way to spend time. Just be mindful of the diagonal lines, as they also count towards the connect four.
13. Checkers
A very simple concept and a unique and clean design, Checkers is a game of strategy and intellect. The game involves moving your game pieces by jumping over opponents' pieces and capturing them. It’s a game of intelligence and mindfulness that stimulates quick thinking and strategy.
14. Backgammon
A two-player board game that combines luck and strategy. Backgammon is a game where players take turns rolling dice and moving their pieces around the board. Once you manage to remove all your pieces before your opponent, you win.
15. Operation
A classic operation simulation game way before the virtual simulator games we know today. Operation is a board game where players take turns removing pieces from the patient using tweezers. A steady hand can get you very far in this game, but if you touch something wrong, you get buzzed out.
16. Scattergories
Scattergories is a very interesting and exciting board game for up to six players. The objective of the game is to score points by uniquely naming objects, actions, or people. Make sure you keep an eye on the time limit, though.
17. Wit’s End
Wit’s End is a party trivia game that is incredibly fun to play. Players roll a die and move around the board answering questions until they reach the center square. There are a number of unpredictable things that can happen, which keeps you on the edge of your seat when playing this game.
18. Tower Up
A city-building game perfect for family game nights and packed with fun times. Tower Up is a fast-paced strategy game that involves players picking cards to get resources or using resources to construct buildings. Building towers and placing roofs earns your points, and the player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
19. Castle Combo
A very cute and quirky card game with fun graphic prints. From balancing gold reserves to buying and arranging characters, Castle Combo combines deeply engaging gameplay and simplicity. Be sure to carefully select the best characters, though, as they might be crucial in the points they contribute at the end of the game.
20. Harmonies
Harmonies is a fairly new addition to the board game world, but a very welcome one for sure. The game lets you combine strategy and creativity to create a beautiful landscape that welcomes animals. Each decision impacts the ecosystem you create, making the game very flexible and full of possibilities. A very notable thing that separates this game from many other board games is that it has a solo mode, allowing you to play by yourself, which changes the gameplay and adds new possibilities.
