Board games are fun but playing the same ones over and over can become pretty dull after a while, especially if the ones you’re playing are the same ones you’ve owned as a kid. Fortunately, I’m here to tell you that more complex board games exist out there and I’m going to recommend five of them! Whether you want to upgrade your board game collection, are looking for a board game for a couples’ game night, or just want to dunk on your friends, these recommendations are for you!
Ticket To Ride
https://://gty.im/1825447146
Ticket to Ride is a board game where players attempt to build routes between one location and another all while trying to not let other players cut off their route(s). While longer routes provide more points they’re also subject to being cut off more easily while shorter routes give fewer points but are easier to complete.
Players draw color-coded train cards that indicate where each section of their train can go and also draw routes which are what they need to complete. If any player(s) have any incomplete route(s) at the end of the game, those are subtracted from the point total. Overall, Ticket to Ride is a pretty fun game and it’s one I recommend for your next board game night. The game also wealth of expansions such as Ticket to Ride: Europe, Legends of the West, Germany, and more! Their Iberia and South Korea expansion will be releasing on August 30th, 2024.
Settlers Of Catan/Catan
Settlers of Catan was my first foray into board games that are tailored more for adults and while it’s not my favorite board game, it’s one of the more well known ones that gets broken out on board game nights. The way Catan is played is tiles are laid out with different numbers on them with each tile’s artwork showing the different resources that are gathered there.
Players then begin placing a settlement and then a road near said settlement one at a time. Once that is done, the first player will roll 2d6 and whichever number is rolled, the corresponding number on the resource tile will be collected by players with settlements on/near those tiles. Players can spend those resources to build roads, improve their settlement, trade resources to other players, etc.
In the middle of the board though is a sand tile where the robber is and when a seven is rolled, the robber activates. When that happens, whoever has 8 or more cards in hand discards down(rounding down)to half their cards in hand and then can place the robber on a number. Doing so allows said player to steal a resource from another player on the tile and closes off that tile from outputting resources till the robber is moved.
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective
https://://gty.im/1247398679
If you’re a fan of solving mysteries you’ll no doubt love Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. The way SHCD is played is each box comes with ten different case files with some being connected and others being standalone cases, an address book/London directory, a map of London, and old-timey-looking newspapers. Unlike most other board games which have some randomness to them via dice, spinning, etc, SHCD has none of that.
Instead, the game is entirely deductive based as you play as the Baker Street Irregulars and try to solve cases before Sherlock Holmes can. The goal is to try and solve a case with less or equal moves than Sherlock makes and also complete the case. Doing so scores points and if you fail, it means Sherlock was able to solve the case before you.
Honestly, beating Sherlock is incredibly hard and I find it’s more fun to take my time when playing the game as opposed to trying to beat Sherlock. It’s not a fast game either, if you break this out be sure to have around three hours free because each case usually takes that long to solve. One of the reasons I love SHCD is because it’s a cooperative-style board game that makes everyone feel like a detective.
If you plan to pick up SHCD you have a choice between four separate boxes. My personal favorite is the Jack The Ripper and West End box, while I’ve heard the Baker Street Irregulars box is also good. There’s also the Thames box and the Carlton House box too.
Flame Craft
If you like cute dragons, money, resource gathering, fantasy, city building, and DnD it means you’ll love Flame Craft. Flame Craft is an adorable board game with some gorgeous art where you’re helping small dragons find jobs while also building more shops in the town. The main goal of the game is to gain resources, purchase enchantments with said resources, gain reputation points, and have more reputation points than your Opponent(s) at the end of the game.
The way you gain resources is by going to different shops and firing a dragon there. Some dragons allow you to fire all the dragons there and there are also special shops too with different features. Flame Craft is easily in my top ten favorite board games and I can’t recommend it enough!
Just One
Just One is another board game where dice don’t factor into the game at all. Just One is a word-based game for up to seven players where one while blindfolded picks a word out of five words on a card and then the other players write clue words to try and get them to guess the word.
It’s not as simple as it sounds though because players that write a matching word are both out of the current round and the word can’t be written differently, be from the same family, be written in a foreign language, an invented word, and also can’t sound the same either. Once all the rules are met, the guessing player removes their blindfold and uses the clues to try and guess the word.
Once they correctly or incorrectly guess it the blindfold is passed to the next player and after donning it, will pick up a card and pick the next word. Once thirteen cards have been drawn, the players tally up the cards in the correct pile and that’s how many points you got that session. Just One is a pretty quick game where even when I’ve played it with a full group, it only took about twenty minutes or so tops.
Disclaimer: There are affiliate links in the article which means I may earn a commission if you purchase through them.
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