Board games aren’t equal. There, we’ve said it! While for some, Snakes and Ladders might be the pinnacle of board game entertainment, nothing beats the glory of a strategy game for us. It’s just something so thrilling about them! Okay, nerd-like thrilling with all the planning and scheming and whatnot, but nonetheless. And, if you agree with us, we think you’ll enjoy our list of the best strategy board games to date!
What will you find in this list full of strategy board games? Well, for starters, the father of them all - chess! Yup, same old good old chess. And, if you’re more into games with actual narrative (although we bet that you can also make up a narrative for chess, hands down), you’ll find such gems as Catan, Carcassonne, and Ticket to Ride here, too. Oh, and Risk did also make it to our list of best board games; how could it not?! Actually, there are so many good strategy board games listed here that you’ll never think about the family-ruining, feud-inducing Monopoly ever again. Although we admit it, it also made it to this list. But hey, you can give your likes to the other cool board games, so this thing of evil never finds its way to the top spot of this list!
So, ready to check out these awesome strategic board games? If so, scroll on down below, take a look at our selection, and do not forget to vote for the games you think to be the best representative of this category. Once that is all well and done, share this article with your friends!
This post may include affiliate links.
Catan
One of the best board games ever...if you can get past your husband's friends giggling like schoolboys whenever someone trades "wood for sheep."
Carcassonne
Love this game. Easy to learn and always different, every time you play. There are a TON of expansions, if you're willing to invest that much into a game.
Ticket To Ride
Scythe
yes, yes and yes - graphics perfect, material high quality, tactics and strategy high level - but nothing for small children
Chess
Wingspan
Our family plays loads of board games and I love trying new ones .. just looked this up and it's $200!! How good can this game really be???
Betrayal At House On The Hill
Pandemic
What’s shown is one of the several Pandemic Legacy versions on the market. Legacy games are designed to fundamentally change over the course of a campaign stretching over a number of games. The changes are based on what players do in the game so one campaign could be very different from that played by another group.
Twilight Struggle
Strictly two players. It takes a long time to learn and a long time to play, but it is a rich and rewarding game where you take the part of either the US or the USSR and play through the Cold War. Most of the game involves influencing other nations toward your ideology.
Taco vs. Burrito
3 minutes to learn 15 minutes to play - perfect for a long 18 minute evening
Cards Against Humanity
Terraforming Mars
You represent an organization trying to terraform Mars into a habitable state. Through cardplay you complete projects that bring Mars into a better state, trying to reach milestones and gain prestige faster than your rivals. Excellent game.
Ravensburger Disney Villainous
Villainous has a simple rule set (move your token, take 4 actions) but the interactions between players can drag the game out for a while. Has the kingmaker problem in competitive groups where someone finally decides to let someone else win. Every villain has a unique rule set making the game a little tricky to teach. Overall though the journey is worth it, beautiful careful game design is on display to balance every character and provide a very unique game.
I always thought this game seemed like a cashgrab but actually it's a really well made and intricate game that really keeps the spirit of the characters alive. None of it feels lazy, really well made game
Gloomhaven
This is a juggernaut. The game weighs over twenty pounds and comes in a box the size of a small foot locker. There is so much content in the box it it unlikely any player will see it all. This is a campaign game where your characters have individual skills and goals and as the campaign progresses older characters will retire and new ones are unlocked and will join the fight. There are even randomly generated dungeons to play through if you would rather wait for your friends to be available to continue the sprawling story. This is the very definition of epic.
Risk: Game Of Thrones
A bad game, that can be bought for less than 5$ second hand is not any better because it has GoT written on it. But somehow got some upvotes. Btw: Neverending boring battles, decided by luck without strategy - is this really something GoT should promote?
7 Wonders
Three to seven players, this is a game of drafting cards and building up your civilization. One of the nice things is that the number of players hardly changes the time to play the game. The two player version, 7 Wonders Duel, is even better.
Dominion: Intrigue
Splendor
Small World
Imagine a Risk like game, except your people have special, unique powers and ways of scoring points. It scales well for anywhere from 2 to 5 players, there are expansions available for even more variety, and it’s one of the easiest games to learn.
Root
Complicated a-symetrical war game style game with a cute first creature theme will warm your heart.
Everdell
This game is a beautiful forest worker placement game. Lots of fun. Easy to teach. First game I played of this was kinda long. Agricola fans will pick up this game quickly. 4 seasons 15 turns plus each turn used to build your city doesn't take a worker, so about 30 turns on average per game. Would highly recommend.
Agricola
Love this game but you better have the entire day free before you start playing.
Puerto Rico
LOVE this game--- great for a big group. But tons of fiddly little pieces and tons of things to do on your turn make it last for AGES, so be sure you have the entire evening free.
Power Grid
A really fun and complex game that's actually pretty easy to learn. Needs a big table top to play.
Tsuro
This game is great for any age! If kids wanna join in, it's ok, but still fun for adults.
A Feast For Odin
Mage Knight Board Game
The mother of analysis paralysis: If you like strategy, you love this game (although it can take up more than one evening). Every time you think you found the perfect solution there will be a more perfect one if you think longer.
Star Wars: Imperial Assault
If you like the mechanics but want a game with more complexity with better artwork more material and at a lower price (but without paying for Star Wars): Buy Earth Reborn
Twilight Imperium
Played it once with all expansions and 8 players - took as 7 days.
Caylus 1303
This War Of Mine
LOL... fantastic, immersive game, once you get through the torturous rule books (the clam that you can read the rules summary and start playing is ridiculous). The game is also designed to be extremely long with "save points", like the video game it's based upon, so that it cane be played over several sessions. It's long, as I said, and is very dark in theme and story, but still a lot of fun to play.
Diplomacy
How is this on the list? This game takes like 10 hours and requires stabbing your friends in the back. Takes a special kind of person to organize and play this monster of a game.
Yet another low effort listicle of photos with no descriptions. What's happening to BP? At least half the new content on a given day is this low effort nonsense.
Affiliate links, I think. Low effort, and they get money if a panda buys on Amazon through the link here
Load More Replies... This is a nice idea but this is just about 20 games repeated over and over. Also would have been nice to get an actual description of what the game is
I agree that a description would have added some value. Some of the games that come up all the time for our game nights didn't even show up on this list. Mysterium, where are you?
This list was mostly hot garbage, should have known when I didn't see a single mention of fluxx or DnD in the first 25 AT LEAST....and then not at all. 😞
Yet another low effort listicle of photos with no descriptions. What's happening to BP? At least half the new content on a given day is this low effort nonsense.
Affiliate links, I think. Low effort, and they get money if a panda buys on Amazon through the link here
Load More Replies... This is a nice idea but this is just about 20 games repeated over and over. Also would have been nice to get an actual description of what the game is
I agree that a description would have added some value. Some of the games that come up all the time for our game nights didn't even show up on this list. Mysterium, where are you?
This list was mostly hot garbage, should have known when I didn't see a single mention of fluxx or DnD in the first 25 AT LEAST....and then not at all. 😞
