Once the entertainment of last resort on rainy days and during power outages, board games have evolved into varied works of interactive art with options for many styles of play. This guide is a starting point for discovering games that are fun, interactive, and challenging, and our picks are a great introduction for anyone looking to get more into games. But the Competition section lists many other notable games, and we are building out more specific coverage of other types of games, such as card games and games specifically for two players.
Although our picks are geared toward adults, most are family-friendly. These intro-level options offer some of the best opportunities for new gamers to experience the joys of board games: They require lighter strategy and are quick to learn, but they also involve enough exciting decision-making to engage adults. Many of these games are kid-friendly, and several have expansion packs to accommodate additional players or to add complexity. To create those patterns, on each turn you draw one of four sets of randomly paired tiles and tokens from a common market.
Each tile represents a certain kind of habitat grassland, mountains, river, marsh, or forest , while the wooden tokens represent five types of animals bears, elk, foxes, hawks, or salmon. You earn points by arranging the animal tokens into the patterns you need to create. The game ends once each player has drawn and placed 20 tiles and tokens, and whoever has the highest score wins. The tricky balance between planning ahead and executing that plan on the fly makes it remarkably satisfying when a tile-and-token combination that you need finally comes up.
During testing, every group we played with commented on how relaxing the game wasβboth in its theme and in how it calmly progresses as each player builds out their own little display. Cascadia also comes with rules for a solo-gameplay mode, complete with campaign challenges that can make the original puzzle a bit deeper and more rewarding.
This gem-collecting game is easy to learn but requires enough strategy that it keeps players enthralled over multiple rounds. Players act as gem merchants, using tokens to purchase gem cards and to attract the attention of nobles later in the game to gain even more points. On their turn, each player chooses between drawing gem tokens, buying a card, or reserving a card for later purchase and taking a gold token. As players stockpile gem cards, they get discounts on other card purchases. The first player with 15 prestige points earned by purchasing higher-level gem cards and winning over nobles wins the game.
