Everyone has a favorite board game. Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Chutes and Ladders - most aren't terribly difficult or great. Honestly, Catan and Munchkin are not that good. I've slowly developed a taste for the best board games, and wanted to share a few of the best with all of you.
1. Betrayal at House on the Haunted Hill
Exploring a spooky house, figuring out the mystery behind it, and eventually dealing with the titular betrayal? This game pits the players against itself, and each other! This is an intensive game (think "Monopoly" length of time requirement), but it's very worth it: Each person can wander through the house (which you build as you go) and find items to help them. But beware, if you get the wrong item, you may become the monster of the house and suddenly find yourself playing against everyone else! Once that happens, it's up to the remaining players to figure out how to beat the monster - or just try and escape!
2. Epic Spell War of the Battle Wizards: Duel at Mount Skullzfyre
Just take a moment to appreciate that box art
Pretty ridiculous, right? This game is off-the-walls crazy and entertaining at all times. Each player takes on a wizard persona and creates spells from 3 cards (You must say the spell name in a wizard voice- no joke). The art and names are hilarious and obscene, and the gameplay surprisingly smooth and well made. There is a sequel/add-on: Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Rumble at Castle Tentakill which on adds to the insanity.
3. Codenames
Ever wish you could kill some of the people in "Guess Who?" Well now you can! In this game, 25 agent cards are randomly placed in a grid. It's up to the team leaders to give clues to their teams to find their own secret agents, while avoiding the other team's. It takes a fair amount of cleverness to know exactly what to say in order to steer your team in the right direction - while not letting them accidentally pick the assassin!
4. Dominion
In this card game, you get the chance to build your own deck of cards! As you develop your resources, you have to carefully consider whether or not it's worth it to buy more victory points, or develop more coins to grow your potential end-game! There are a bunch of different varieties of Dominion out there, from Magic to Pirates, and each offers their own set of cards that you can mix and match your games with!
5. One Night: Ultimate Werewolf
Werewolf and mafia are fantastic games, but have one crucial problem: Somebody has to manage the night and watch everyone make their moves. And that person doesn't even really get to play! Enter One Night: Ultimate Werewolf. This board game is perhaps the first I've played that uses a phone app to help manage everything. You start by selecting how many players, then giving out role cards. You plug in what roles there are on the app, close your eyes, and just hit start! The app announces each role in order, allowing each person to make their move without worrying. Once everyone has made their move, they have one opportunity to use what they know (which isn't much) to decide who they think is a werewolf.
The app is perfectly integrated into an existing game, and the fact that you have one round to make your move increases the stakes!
6. Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a board game "instant classic" - if such a thing exists. It's an easy enough concept: You pick random tiles and build the "board" as you play. With each tile you place, you get the option of placing one of your "meeples" on the board to claim a road, farm, city, or monastery. Each section offers different point values, opportunities to build more point values or simply complete and earn points (for example, a road with two "endings" gives 1 point per tile - and gives you the meeple back). Once all the tiles are placed, you count up all the points you've earned or missed - and claim your victory (or defeat).
These are just a few of my favorite board games, but there are thousands more out there that I've never heard of, or always wanted to try. Even though I'm a video gamer at heart, games can be incredible experiences no matter what the form they take - and with app driven game growing more popular, the lines between board game and video game is starting to get wonderfully blurred. Maybe you've played something that you can't wait to share with others: leave a comment with your favorite game!
