The Top Five Board and Card Games of Which You've Probably Never Heard

Board gaming is once again cool. Well, cool for geeks. Which means everyone else is just waiting to follow. If you haven't played a board game in a while (like since childhood) you'd be surprised at how far things have moved forward and how much fun these games can be.


So, in reverse order.

Number 5

Twilight Struggle

Publisher: GNT Games
Players: 2
Ages: 13 up

The highest-ranked game of all-time on BoardGameGeek since December 2010 and probably the greatest two player board game since chess, Twilight Struggle recreates the Cold War face off between the USA and the USSR. Each player takes a side and tries to dominate the other with military and political prestige.

Players take turns playing event cards which can be used for points (to enable coups and placement of military units) or they can just let the event play out. The events themselves will usually favour a particular side and even if you use a card that would help the other side for points, the event will still take place.

Just don't bring the threat level up to Defcon 1 or you'll lose the game for igniting a nuclear war.

When you open the box this game may seem a little daunting, so just watch a YouTube play guide and you'll be at one another's throats in no time.


Number 4

Agricola

Publisher: Z-Man Games
Players: 1 – 5 (Yes, you can solo play with this one)
Ages: 12 up

This might be the greatest Eurogame of all time. And I know some of you will be saying you much prefer its successor, Caverna, it must be remembered that this was first and it's still a fantastic game.

You have an empty farm and two farmers. Each round you get to send your farmer to do something like plough a field or chop wood. By doing so, over time, your farm will flourish and you'll even be able to have children, giving you more goes each turn.

But those children, along with the adults, will need to be fed, and the balance in this game is always trying to make your farm grow faster than your opponents while making sure you're doing enough to ensure your family's survival.

At its basis, this game really is that simple, and though most people are flummoxed by it on the first try, by go two, they generally don't want to play any game other than this for a few months.

With different variations and a couple of expansions included, this game could give you a hernia when you pull it down from the shelf, and the sheer number of components might make you a little intimidated but don't worry. Watch a YouTube run through, play your first game and you're in for life.

Number 3

Arkham Horror

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Players: 1 - 8
Ages: 12 up

This game earns its place by being the best cooperative game of all time – no question. That's right, for once you're not playing against each other but against the board, and my, doesn't it put up a good fight.

Set in the world of Lovecraftian mythos, players take on the role of investigators in H. P. Lovecraft's Massachusetts town of Arkham. Inter-dimensional gates have started appearing all over town, spewing out horrific monsters onto the streets. If the players are to win they will have to defeat those monsters and close the gates before a major enemy like Cthulhu or Nyarlathotep shows up and places the investigators in a do or die fight for their lives.

Of all the games here this one has the most complex set of rules but you'll always have YouTube to help. With a ton of expansions available (we own all of them) this game never gets boring, even after the third time you've been eaten by a Gug.


Number 2

Cosmic Encounter

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Players: 3 – 5 (the more players the more mayhem)
Ages: 12 up

For those in the USA I suspect Cosmic Encounter will be nothing new, it's been around since the 1970s and seems to be very well established state side. In the UK however, no one seems to know about it, and it's a pity because I can honestly say it is hands down the fastest and most involving interaction game I've ever played. There is very little waiting around in this game, and all that time is filled by delicious, threatening table-talk.

Each player starts with five planets and twenty ships, the idea of the game is to colonise the planets of other players – first to five wins. On your turn you'll pick a card which tells you who you have to attack. The defender and attacker commit ships to the battle, and beg the other players not involved in the fight to come help them out. Then the attacker and defender draw a card from their hand and keep it secret. Each card has a number on it. When the cards are revealed, the number of ships you chose to attack or defend with is added to the number on your card and the player with the highest total wins.

But that's not all. There are special cards like Negotiate, which, if attacker and defender play, gives them 60 seconds to make a deal (or you can tell your opponent you're playing negotiate but then really play a number card and wipe them out), alongside cards like Morph, which matches the total of your opponents card.

It gets even more fun than this, because each player draws a race card at the start of the game which gives them special powers that can quickly turn around the game.

Those are the basics of it. One fun feature it's worth pointing out is that it is possible that more than one player can win the game at the same time, though negotiation or helping out in a battle. Oh, and be prepared for a lot of backstabbing and inflammation of trust issues.


Number 1

Love Letter

Publisher: Alderac Entertainment Group
Players: 2 – 4 (best with 4)
Ages: 10 up

Yes, the number one game on the list has the most awful title known to man. When we've asked our friends if they want to play Love Letter at our game nights there have been a wild variety of faces pulled, from utter disbelief to total exasperation. When we told them the idea of the game is to get your love letter into the hands of the princess it really didn't lessen their sense of embarrassment at the idea. It only gets more uncomfortable when we tell them we play the gay version where we swap out the princess for the prince (included for free in the game).

But one game in and they forget all about their reservations.

The game consists of 16 cards which make up the court, ranging from Soldier which has a rank of 1, up to princess, which has a ranking of 8. Each of the cards has a different effect: the Clown enables you to see one of the other player's hands; the Knight allows you to compare hands with another player – the person who has the lower card goes out of the round.

The round continues until all but one player is knocked out and there is a winner, or, if the cards run out, the person left in with the highest card wins, and their letter gets to the princess. First person to get four letters in the hands of the princess wins.

Okay, so I'll admit, there's nowhere near as much depth to this game as any of the others on the list, but the reason it's made my number one is that it's so easy to get into and so accessible, it's all about player interaction, and, being such a small game it's great to take down the pub or on a train journey. And for a 16 card game, it's an awful lot of fun.

So that's it, my top five. If you've not board gamed for a while you'll be amazed at how far things have moved on. You know how you always hated Monopoly because it was dull and took forever to get to your turn? Well, it turns out you were right.

So I'm going to end with some honourable mentions but keep checking back, as I'm going to do my top 5 party games soon so you'll know what to pick up for the silly season to keep you and yours well entertained.


Okay, from 6 down:

6 – 7 Wonders
7 – Power Grid
8 – Puerto Rico
9 – Zombicide
10 – Pandemic
11 – Ticket to Ride
12 – Castles of Burgundy
13 – Sentinels of the Multiverse
14 – Lord of the Rings LCG
15 – Munchkin
16 – Catan, Settlers of America
17 – Railways of the World
18 – Catan
19 – Eldrich Horror
20 – Robinson Crusoe