The general populace usually thinks of board games as bored games. Little do they know, there is a whole world of board games aside from Monopoly, Sorry! and Life. In the past few years, board games have become a larger part of my entertainment. And with these games requiring more than just me to play, I would love to share, what I think, are some games everyone needs to play.

1. Codenames

Players: 2-8

Replay-ability: 10/10

Fun: 9/10

Synopsis: A mix between the games Password and Clue. The board is made of a 5 by 5 arrangement of cards, with different words on each. One person from both teams is the "spymaster" and must give their team hints to get them to choose the right cards, which are determined by the spymasters' key. There are so many different possible boards that you may never play a specific board more than once. The twist is that the spymasters can give one hint to apply to more than just one card, allowing their team to pull ahead.

2. Monikers

Players: 4-16

Replay-ability: 8/10

Fun: 9/10

Synopsis: Monikers is one of party games that is a mix of Taboo, Password and Charades. Alone, it may not sound like much, but the way it is set up takes it to a whole new level. Each person is dealt eight cards and chooses five to contribute to the playing deck. Each card has a different word, phrase or person, with a little fun description at the bottom. Only each person knows what they put in the deck. The deck is then passed around until it used up three times. The first time around is like Taboo: the person needs to give clues to their teammates using any hint they can give. Second time is like Password: only one clue is allowed per card, and third is Charades. These cards are wild. One of them is the "One-Armed Drummer from Def Leppard." With each successive round, everyone gets more acquainted with the cards in the deck and inside jokes are made.

3. Pit

Players: 3-8

Replay-ability: 7/10

Fun: 7/10

Synopsis: If you have ever played, and liked, the card game Kemps, you are going to enjoy this one. Imagine you are a farmer at a farmers market. You need to trade your goods with other people for the produce you want. This game will be sure to increase the noise levels of the atmosphere a decent amount of decibels. As soon as the bell rings, "the market is open," and thus initiates the shouting of "ONE! ONE! ONE!" and "THREE! THREE!" or "ANYBODY FOR TWO?!" The goal is to have a complete set of nine of one produce, out of eight possible ones, and you need to trade with your fellow farmers to complete your set.

4. Avalon (Resistance)

Players: 5-10

Replay-ability: 9/10

Fun: 9/10

Synopsis: As advertised, Avalon is a social deduction game. It's a hybrid between Mafia and Clue. At the beginning of the game everyone secretly draws role cards to assign if they are good or evil. Each person then takes turns deciding who goes on the mission. The group can vote on whether or not they want that group to go, and if it passes, each member on the mission must then secretly decide whether or not to pass or fail the mission. The good guys want the mission to pass, and the bad guys want it to fail. However, since everything is done anonymously, if the mission fails, the identity of who failed it is hidden. The goal for the good guys is to pass a majority of the missions, while the bad guys want to fail the majority.

5. Coup

Players: 2-6

Replay-ability: 8/10

Fun: 8/10

Synopsis: Coup is a similar type of game as Avalon, as they are made by the same company, but instead of the Mafia twist, it more like the card game B.S. Each player has two cards, that only they can look at, that represent their identity and how many lives they have. There are only five possible identities to have with each having up to three cards in the deck. So there can only be three of them at any one time at play, but because no one knows what you are, but yourself, you can assume that identity. As long as no one calls B.S. on you, you can carry out their role. But once they call your bluff, you need to reveal it, and if you are not the identity you called, you lose a life. Goal of the game is to be the last one standing, but it is harder than you think when you can be overthrown by a coup or assassinated by other players.