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Now, I know what you’re thinking. A top 10 board games list of all time (as in every board game ever…) is a pretty bold claim to make. So, rather than jumping right in at number 10, why don’t we take a look back to December, 1935 to see how we got to this point…
For those of you who don’t have the release dates of every board game memorised, December 1935 was the month of Monopoly (worthy of a national holiday in my opinion). The now ubiquitous winner-take-all board game has since been translated into 37 languages and evolved into over 200 licensed and localized editions for 103 countries across the world. So, a pretty big move in the board gaming world.
This was, simply put, the start of board gaming. There’s a formative time in every young persons life where they lose their first game of monopoly, and learn the truly harrowing truth of debt and the housing market (even the early 1900’s could see that economic crisis from a mile off).
Moving on, we get the release of such classics as Jenga, Snakes and Ladders and Ludo which you’ll find covered in dust in your family home, or only brought out for Christmas Day (personally, there’s nothing I get more competitive about than winning a game of Ludo, it’s not as boring as you think!)
So, we’ve got the board game classics, the board games that anyone of any age would be able to recognise. Fast forward a few years and, pause your collective shuddering, we arrive at the Pandemic. How else are you supposed to spend hours shut inside on the edge of stir crazy without a good ol’ board game? That’s what a lot of creators seemed to think anyway, as the gaming market boomed around this time.
And from all this, we arrive to this blog. From the classic strategy, dice rolling games of the 20th century, to campaign, tile laying, engine building, co-op games and more. I present to you, the top 10 board games of all time.
#10 Scythe:
From Stonemaier Games, Scythe is a 1-5 player engine-building, asymmetric, competitive board game, set in an alternate-history 1920s period. Now, that opening line is probably a lot of info to take in, but bear with me on this one!
Scythe focuses on expanding your factions dominance in a time of war and innovation, with the goal of gaining territory, creating upgrades and battling your enemies - its you and your industrious workers against the world. The aim of this 4x game (explore, expand, exploit, exterminate) is to control areas of the board, gather resources, earn coins, and build an efficient engine. Once a player completes six achievements, the game end is triggered and final scoring is calculated.
So, What Sets Scythe Apart From The Rest?
Scythe’s ability to drag its players into a whole nother era (a fictional one at that!), means it’s pretty high on board gamers favourites list, to say the least. The sheer amount of choice and decision making the players are given can seem slightly overwhelming at first, but it’s also what makes the game great. The euro mechanisms and balancing act of the 4x label are superbly carried out, and the tactics needed for different combinations of player mats is like no other!
#9 Undaunted Stalingrad:
If you’re a board gamer, there’s a very slim chance you haven’t heard of the Undaunted Series. The hype train this Osprey Games beast created took over the gaming world for a bit, and all of this for a game about… a 1942 war? That’s right, Stalingrad, 1942 was a pivotal battle in WWII. For over five months the German forces tried to oust the Soviet Red Army in bitter fighting before finally capitulating after being cut off and surrounded. And, you guessed it, Undaunted: Stalingrad gives you the chance to recreate this epic struggle (all from the comfort of you own dining room table, of course).
For those who have not played the Undaunted series, here’s a brief overview: gameplay is very much card driven, as players draw four cards and determine one to use for initiative during a turn. The other cards allow players to perform a single-card action, flip from suppressed to ready, or hunker down (return to supply).
After this, the cycle continues with card draws and sacrificing one card to bid for initiative. That’s the super incredibly short and sweet version, as the 12-15 scenarios that are available to play mean strategy and some pretty intense forward thinking is a must-have!
So, What Sets Undaunted Stalingrad Apart From The Rest?
Undaunted might be a deck building game – but it’s deck building like you’ve never seen before! While each player has a specific type of card they can acquire, the engine they are building is unpredictable. Your deck will increase and decrease sporadically, which creates a flow that leads to casualties, victories and unpredictable gameplay twists and turns!
#8 Catan
Catan is often credited with being the forefather of the present-day Euro game. It’s been printed in 39 languages and sold over 27 million copies – the stats speak for themselves.
In Catan, 3-4 players compete to reach 10 victory points, by building towns and cities on a randomised board made of hex tiles. You all start the game with limited resources, with the aim to acquire more materials to construct roads linking your settlements, with the end-goal of upgrading them into cities.
Resources are allocated each turn based on a dice roll, and players can negotiate trades with one another (which can turn into a brutal sport of good ol’ fashioned bartering).
So, What Sets Catan Apart From The Rest?
First up, its replayability is basically endless – the boards tiles can be randomised, as can the numbers used to determine what roll produces what resources – so it’s an entirely new challenge each time.
It’s also the perfect gateway game for new gamers, the rules are easy to pick up, it’s not too complex or heavy, and you can be packing it away in about an hour – it’s a board gaming staple!
#7 Spirit Island
Spirit Island is a 1-4 player co-operative island defence game designed by R. Eric Reuss. A game of strategy and defence, you and your team play as island spirits fighting to defends their home from the colonial invaders attempts to settle colonies, blight the island’s natural beauty and eradicate the indigenous Dahan.
Each spirit is unique, with its own powers, influence and attacks; the ways in which you interact with friends and foes is unpredictable, and this character design is something that cannot go unnoticed – these spirits and their personalities really are the driving force of the game!
Players win either through completely eradicating the invaders, or through acquiring enough Fear tokens to push the invaders to abandon their plans. The players lose if the invaders deplete the pool of Blight tokens, or if one spirit’s presence is completely removed from the island.
So, what Sets Spirit Island Aprt From The Rest?
Spirit Island is a truly nail-biting experience of tension, where the fate of the island is constantly on the edge of collapse, making a win that much more satisfying. The game itself is positively dripping in theme, from the art style, to the component quality and unique narrative that is drawn out of every game. Now, the gameplay itself is pretty complex, and there’s a lot of analysis and brain power that goes into making the right moves – but once you’ve cracked the code, this game might just become one of your favourites.
#6 Nemesis:
Nemesis is the sci-fi game of your dreams (no really, it’s just that good)! A 1-5 player semi-cooperative game in which you and your crewmates must survive on a ship infested with hostile organisms, to win the game you must complete 1 of 2 objectives dealt to you at the start, and return to Earth with all limbs in tact…
Generally one card will have a more selfish goal and the other a goal that benefits the team – so you can either make this a team game, or give yourself a last man standing ultimatum! As well as this, players will have to be careful in their encounters with the intruders, lest they get infected. An infected player cannot win the game, after all.
So, What Sets Nemsis Apart From The Rest?
First off, Nemesis has a 2-sided board with a modular setup, and it has some of the most thematic moments in a board game I’ve ever experienced.
The competitive and cooperative modes also mean you can all be playing a different version of the same game, as one person’s death is another mans sabotage!
Overall, Nemesis is a lot – a lot of cards, a lot of tokens, a lot of minis, and a lot of fun.
#5: War of the Ring (Second Edition)
Lord of the Rings is one of the biggest franchises – even if you didn’t grow up with the epic trilogy, your parents would have sat you down to relive their own nostalgia, or passed on their old books. So, when a board game described as “Tolkien-in-a-box,” was announced, it had a pretty big audience base to please, and some pretty big shoes to fill.
War of the Ring is a 2-4 player, area control strategy war game, pitting the Free Peoples and the forces of Shadow against one another. It uses Action Dice, which allow players to move armies, play event cards, move specific characters and so on. There are two possible routes to victory; the first is the military route which comes down to conquest and capture of enemy cities and strongholds. The second is the ring, if the ring gets destroyed by throwing it into the cracks of Mount Doom then the player of the Free Peoples wins, if the Ringbearer fails in this quest then the player of the Shadow wins.
So, What Sets War Of The Ring Apart From The Rest?
This game is huge in more ways than one. It doesn’t just try to capture the Lord of the Rings lore, but it tries to capture it on a 41 by 54 inch board (guys, we’re gonna need a bigger table…). Not to mention the figures representing military units, the main characters and the extras, the four decks and the event cards. The 48 page rule book should help you get your bearings though, and before you know it you’ll be battling it out for victory.
Gameplay estimate is around 3 hours, so you’ll have to carve out a pretty good chunk of the day to really get into this game, but boy is it worth it! This is a game you might not play that often because of the sheer weight of it, but its one you won’t dream of getting rid of – as far as tabletop games go, this one’s pretty epic.
#4 Pandemic:
We’ve had a lot of every-man-for-himself, only one can take the crown kind of board games so far – so what about the games that let you take the pressure of how you’re playing, and think about the whole group instead? You guessed it – it’s a co-op game, and it’s none other than (drumroll please) Pandemic!
Pandemic is a cult-classic at this point – if it’s not front and centre on your board game shelf then you need to make some room.
Maybe a bit too on the nose for what seems like a Pandemic that just ended, Pandemic (the board game) is a brilliant 2-4 player game, with the simple goal of working together to find the cure for each of the four diseases before time runs out. Seems simple, but you’ve got a lot to juggle. Watch out for epidemics, build vital research centres and prevent infection spreading across cities…once again, the fate of humanity is in your hands (these board game makers do love a post-apocalyptic theme).
So, What Sets Pandemic Apart From The Rest?
It’s pretty simple – the co-operative play, where players must strategize to achieve victory, is brilliantly immersive; if you’re not shouting at each other at least once about the best next move then you’re definitely doing it wrong!
#3 Brass Birmingham
If we’re talking about big impact games, then I can’t ignore Brass Birmingham. If you’ve ever clicked that little drop down on BoardGameGeek to see what’s hot, chances are Brass Birmingham is going to be in that list somewhere (although as I write this it’s very much absent – just take my word for it) and for good reason!
As one of highlight releases in 2018, Brass Birmingham is a master class in economic strategy gaming. The quality of the components in unquestionable and the double-sided board, featuring day and night time alternatives is stunning to look at.
The game is split into two halves, the Canal era and the rail era. This gives the player a chance to evolve their industry and claim victory points at the end of each half. The winner is the player with the most at the end of the second era!
So, What Sets Brass Birmingham Apart From The Rest?
I think we can all agree that a standard board game night involves getting through a bunch of different board games, and emptying your board game shelves for the creme de la creme! The thing about brass Birmingham, though, is that it has enough variety in gameplay to satiate a whole night of board gaming needs! I would happily sit and play this one game for 4 hours straight (and let meyother games collect some dust…) if it means I can pump out some brass!
#2 Ticket To Ride:
As soon as I got my hands on a copy of Ticket To Ride it became a family favourite, and a weekend just doesn’t feel complete without a game (as long as I win, of course). But what makes it so addicting?
Ticket to Ride stands proudly in the pantheon of modern board game classics; as a gateway game, it introduces newcomers to the world of modern board gaming while maintaining that depth that seasoned players come back for.
Simply put, it’s a 2-5 player set collecting and route building game where players compete to connect cities across the map with colour coded train routes – relying on both strategy and luck to win.
So, What Sets Ticket To Ride Apart From The Rest?
It’s exactly this combination of strategic decision-making route building with a dash of luck that calls back to the likes of monopoly, but this time in a refurbished, higher value production. It’s replayability is, and I can vouch for this as an avid player, endless, and the huge variety of expansions mean if you did want a change of scene, you’re not limited for options. This is a modern classic building on everything that made a great board game in the past!
Check out the expansions here!
#1 Terraforming Mars
Set in the not-so-distant future, 1-5 players assume the roles of competing corporations tasked with transforming the Red Planet into a habitable home for humanity.
Now, Terraforming Mars has a lot going for it in terms of the kind of game it is: from card drafting, resource management, engine building to strategy, risk and chance – but it’s all this that makes it the perfect game.
So, What Sets Terraforming Mars Apart From The Rest?
Unlike many board games that rely solely on chance, Terraforming Mars offers players a deep strategic experience, allowing them to craft their path to victory through careful planning and decision-making. The game's mechanics really do pile the pressure on – I mean, the future of humanity is quite literally in your hands here – and it effortlessly simulates the challenges of real-life terraforming, from managing resources like energy and water to placing cities and greenery across the Martian landscape.
All these elements, coupled with the game's strategic depth, keeps players coming back time and time again.
Final Thoughts:
So, this was my rundown of the top 10 board games of all time – my personal crème da le crème. Obviously, there are some games that couldn’t make it onto the list, and some that you’ll probably disagree with – but this is the perfect time for you to give them all a go! Check out our huge range of games over at Zatu, and check back in for some future change ups to the Top 10 board games….Happy gaming!