Board gaming is a wonderful hobby. From the zen like quality of ripping open the cellophane and popping out the cardboard pieces, to the joyous social interaction that can permeate throughout any great board gaming experience, the hobby has something for everyone as it goes from strength to strength.
But one thing the board gaming hobby certainly isn’t always is cheap. They can be big, imposing things, taking a real chunk out of your bank balance that can be hard to justify to your wife, parents, or mortgage lender. Some of the most beloved games sadly are very expensive, from the incredible grandeur of Gloomhaven to the edge of your seat horror with Nemesis.
However, not all great board games come in big, shiny, pricey boxes. Some of the best ones out there, from wonderful game mechanics to incredible moments created round a table can be found in the cheapest games.
In this feature I will be listing 5 great board games you can buy for under £10 (As of the time of writing!). All these games provide hours of incredible fun for board game enthusiasts and newbies alike, all at a price cheaper than your average takeaway.
1. Fungi
Fungi was a game released in 2014 that was brave enough to answer the age-old question, could mushroom picking round a forest with a basket and a pan be exciting? The answer was a resounding yes!
A 15-minute two player strategy game in which you and your opponent compete to collect and cook up the best mushroom dishes, using butter, cider and combinations of the same mushroom to gather the most points.
This wonderful jaunt through the woods just plays to its simplistic theme perfectly. Its an easy teach for children who might be showing an interest in the hobby, as well as a lovely strategy game you could play with a partner or sibling on holiday in a shack in the New Forest or round a campfire.
For under £10 you get a lot of game and competition in Fungi. I, for whatever reason, am terrible at it, but I still love getting out of an evening and use it as a great two player game to get someone interested in the hobby. Then they inevitably beat me. Damn you mushrooms!
A wonderful game which I don’t think gets enough love on great two player lists and rankings, you’ll always have a great time with this game, proving you are a Fun Guy to all your friends… Sorry, it had to be done.
2. Saboteur
If you have just finished the Traitors and are looking to do a bit of undercover backstabbing yourself, but are still counting your coppers after Christmas, then Saboteur maybe the game for you.
Released in 2004 before being a traitor was cool; in Saboteur you play Dwarves mining tunnels to get to gold. However, at the start of the game you are given a card with your role on it. You might be a humble miner just looking for that loot, or you might be a Saboteur, doing all you can to ensure the treasure is never found.
Just like on the Traitors, as the Saboteur you want to stay hidden for as long as possible, ensuring you can do as much damage as possible without being too obvious that’s your goal, as you create a path to ensure the miners can’t ever reach the gold. If they don’t reach it by the time the round ends, the gold is all yours!
In three quick rounds the game is over, most gold wins, and you and your friends have had a fantastic time being sneaky miners.
A wonderful experience in such a small and inexpensive box, Saboteur for me is a hidden role game better than a lot of its more expensive counterparts, even including the Traitors board game itself.
Saboteur is a fantastic game that is perfect for any collection, and if you really like it, you can even go and get yourself Saboteur 2 which is also under £10!
3. Green Team Wins
Green Team Wins is an absolute steal of a party game which you can get for under £10.
An absolute favourite with my board gaming group at work, in Green Team Wins you and your fellow players are deciding on some random categories of things. Best flavours of cough syrup, what university degree is most important, if Dracula is a more appealing partner than Wolfman. You know, the important stuff.
You want to be in the majority, so you all write an answer, and if your choice is in the majority, you are part of the Green Team.
It’s a really fun party game that gets people talking, working perfectly as an ice breaker if you’re playing with new colleagues or friends of friends. At such a bargain price as well, I think it’s a perfect addition to any budding board game collection. My review of the game is already up on Zatu, so if you want to know my full thoughts on this hilarious game, check it out!
4. An Exit game
In this entry, you’re not just getting one game recommendation, you’re getting several. Aren’t I generous!
If you’ve never heard of the Exit game series, its essentially an escape room and puzzle you can do at home with as many riddle loving friends as you can find.
Coming in a variety of themes and difficulty levels, Exit games are brilliant at getting your mind working in ways you didn’t know were possible. They work for even your most ardent non board game fan, if they have a little patience at trying to work out what can be some quite tricksy puzzles.
I’ve done two so far, and loved them, with both offering very unique and different experiences, adding a brilliant scoring system so you can see how well you did, with enough hints and tips to ensure you don’t just give up in a huff when a particular puzzle totally stumps you.
Not all the games in the series are under £10, but intriguing themes such as The Forgotten Island, The Cursed Labyrinth and The Sinister Mansion can all be picked up for under a tenner.
They are a one and done game, once you’ve completed it, you’d have cut, torn and drawn all over your pieces, so if you don’t like something that you can’t replay, these aren’t for you. But if you like the idea of testing your flourishing deductive skills without destroying a £20+ game, an ideal way to start will be with one for under £10.
5. Sea Salt and Paper
This is a game I wouldn’t just recommend because its under £10, this is a game I would recommend full stop, and one of my favourite card games of all time!
Released in 2022 and designed by Bruno Cathala and Theo Riviere, Sea Salt and Paper is a 2-4 player card game in which you are playing to simply score more points than your opponent by building sets of cards.
As simple as basic card games like Rummy, Sea Salt and Paper is such a beautiful little game. The origami artwork on the cards is unmatched compared to any other game in my collection, and its simplicity hides the fact that in this tiny box which you can literally fit in your coat pocket, there is a mechanic which has a great deal of depth and intricacy.
Each round you might try a different tact. This round I will go for simple two card combos; next I will go for a set of Octopuses where the big boy points are. Or maybe you will go for the historic 4 mermaid play, which wins you the ENTIRE game, a victory condition I have only heard tale of in myth and legend.
Joking aside, the variety you get from Sea Salt and Paper easily makes it a top tier game. If you’re dipping your toes into the hobby, I strongly recommend this as a gateway game, and at under £10 it really is a good deal.
So that was five great board games for under £10, but there are plenty of other absolute bargains out there. A high price does not always equate to high quality, and even the cheapest game can provide a fantastic gaming experience.
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