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An Introduction to Modern Board Gaming

Jerry Jerry Follow Jan 04, 2021 · 16 mins read
An Introduction to Modern Board Gaming
A ongoing game of Photosynthesis

We are currently in a renaissance of board gaming, with thousands of new games being released every year. Board games have come a long way since the four hour slugfests of Monopoly and Risk that many played of us played as kids. Modern board games offer so much more varied and thematic gameplay, interesting decision making, and engaging social interaction. The new titles are all incredibly diverse, including party games, cooperative games, word games, dexterity games, strategy games, real-time games, and much more. There’s a game out there for everyone!

An introduction wouldn’t be complete without some recommendations, so that is what’s coming next. Each category has been curated to contain a diverse selection of games that showcases different mechanics, themes, and complexities, so that you can acquire a taste of what modern board gaming has to offer!

  1. Introductory / Light Games
  2. Cooperative Games
  3. Party Games
  4. Strategy Games
  5. Narrative-Driven Games
  6. Two Player Games
     

 

Introductory / Light Games

These are board games that are simple and short yet provide an excellent introduction to the hobby! These games are also great for experienced board gamers looking for a quick warmup before longer, more complex games.
 

Kingdomino (2016)

Kingdomino

Who can build the most majestic kingdom using dominos? During each round, choose and connect a new domino to your existing kingdom. However, if you pick the best tile, you’ll be picking last during the next round! Make sure to secure tiles with crowns — these treasures help to significantly boost the grandeur of your kingdom!

  • Players: 2 – 4
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Categories: Tile Placement, Light Strategy, Territory Building
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Kingdomino? Try this next: Sagrada (2017)

   

For Sale (1997)

For Sale

In For Sale, join in the annual auction of properties of all different kinds, from a cardboard box to RV, tree house, igloo or even a skyscraper! In this fast-paced game of bidding and bluffing, it’s not just about buying and hoarding the best properties, you’ll also have to use your wits to sell them at the best price!

Enjoy playing For Sale? Try this next: Modern Art (1992)

   

Hanabi (2010)

Hanabi

In this fully cooperative card game, players work together to launch a spectacular firework display. Unfortunately, it’s dark out — everyone must hold their cards backwards so that they can’t see their own cards! You must give each other hints in order to help them deduce their own cards and play them in the right order in order to put on a brilliant show for the crowd!

Enjoy playing Hanabi? Try this next: Letter Jam (2019)

   

Splendor (2014)

Splendor

In Splendor, take on the role of rich merchants working to turn raw gems into precious jewels, earning the attention of wealthy nobles. As you buy and build cards representing gem mines and shops, future purchases will become less expensive. This is an elegantly simple but strategically rich game that has you building an economic engine from the ground up!

  • Players: 2 - 4
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Categories: Engine Building, Light Strategy, Card Drafting
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Splendor? Try this next: Azul (2017) / Gizmos (2018)

   

 

Cooperative Games

Board games don’t always have to be competitive and cutthroat. Modern board games have spawned numerous cooperative board games, where players must work together and coordinate the best way to achieve a common objective. Win or lose, everything happens as a team!  

Pandemic (2008)

Pandemic

In Pandemic, several virulent diseases have broken out simultaneously all over the world! Play as researchers, medics, and scientists whose mission is to treat disease hotspots while researching cures for each of four plagues before they get out of hand. You must discuss your options and work together in order to save humanity before it’s too late!

Enjoy playing Pandemic? Try this next: Horrified (2019)

   

The Crew (2019)

The Crew

Go on exciting and increasingly more difficult missions in space to discover a new planet in this unique cooperative trick-taking game! At the beginning of every mission, each player must assign themselves tasks (cards) to handle, and be able to complete (win) them during the mission. Remember that in space, communication is difficult — can you win the right tricks at the right time with only one chance to communicate with your crewmates?

Enjoy playing The Crew? Try this next: The Shipwreck Arcana (2017)

   

Mysterium Park (2020)

Mysterium Park

A theme park’s former director disappeared and is now a ghost haunting the carnival — your group of talented psychic investigators have been tasked to identify the suspect and location related to the disappearance. One player, as the ghost, can only communicate through shared visions in the form of beautifully illustrated cards. Can the investigators interpret the clues correctly and discover the truth behind what’s happening to Mysterium Park?

  • Players: 2 - 6
  • Time: 30 - 45 minutes
  • Categories: Deduction, Creativity, Cooperative
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Mysterium Park? Try this next: Dixit (2008)

   

 

Party Games

Sometimes, you have a large group together and just want to bond and have a fun evening. Party games can be perfect for these occasions as they support a large number of players and are often filled with social interaction, laughter, and just allows everyone to have a great time!  

Wavelength (2019)

Wavelength

Once you jump into Wavelength, you’ll be debating intently with your team on to what extent is a hot dog a sandwich, or how useful a degree in economics really is on a spectrum. You’ll also be trying to give that perfect hint - what’s a company that’s 65% evil, or what’s something that’s 25% ethical to eat? Can you be on the same wavelength as your team?

  • Players: 4 - 12
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Categories: Creativity, Discussion, Team vs. Team
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Wavelength? Try this next: Monikers (2015)

   

The Resistance: Avalon (2012)

The Resistance: Avalon

A party is never complete without a social deduction game, and The Resistance: Avalon is one of the best in the category. Hidden amongst the knights and servants of King Arthur are the spies of the evil Mordred. As a group of players come out of a failed mission, fingers are pointed as the loyal knights try to use discussions, mission proposals, results, and voting patterns to deduce who the spies are. All while the spies are sowing discord and mistrust…

  • Players: 5 - 10
  • Time: 30 - 45 minutes
  • Categories: Social Deduction, Hidden Identities, Bluffing, Negotiation
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing The Resistance: Avalon? Try this next: Secret Hitler (2016)

   

Decrypto (2018)

Decrypto

In Decrypto, it’s tough enough to communicate with your team through ciphers while cracking your opponents secret code, but it’s even harder when they’re trying to do the same to your cryptic messages! Can you be clever and creative enough to give clues that are easy for your teammates to interpret and decipher, while vague enough to lead your opponents astray? Watch out, as they’ll be listening in on all your communications!

  • Players: 4 - 8
  • Time: 30 - 45 minutes
  • Categories: Deduction, Word Game, Team vs. Team
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Decrypto? Try this next: Codenames (2105) / Just One (2018)

   

Pictomania (2011)

Pictomania

In Pictomania, you don’t have to be great at drawing to win, you just need to be able to create a quick sketch of your assigned word and make sense of your friends’ awful doodles in order to guess them the fastest! In this fast-paced and hilarious game, score points for guessing other people’s drawings quickly while handing out points to those who got yours. Try your best with your own drawing though, as any of the points you don’t hand out will be deducted from your own!

PS: Think this is easy for you? Wait until you reach the level 4 words, where you’ll have to think of a way to draw Morality while distinguishing it from Honesty, Solidarity, Politeness, Truth, Responsibility, and Loyalty. Good luck.

Enjoy playing Pictomania? Try this next: Junk Art (2016)

   

 

Strategy Games

For those who enjoy strategic thinking, resource management, action optimization, and tactical decision making, this category of games is for you! These games are usually a little more complex, longer, and involve more thought than others, so be ready to put on your thinking caps!  

Evolution: Climate (2016)

Evolution: Climate

When vegetation becomes scarce in a harsh and unforgiving ice age, will you adapt by becoming predators, hunting the other species to survive, or will you develop heavy fur to insulate yourself from the elements and fat tissue to store food? As you create a dynamic ecosystem in Evolution: Climate, new species will spring up, food sources will come and go, and creatures will develop new traits - but some will be driven to extinction. Can you be the best at adapting to the ever-changing environment?

Enjoy playing Evolution: Climate? Try this next: Race for the Galaxy (2007)

   

Clank! (2016)

Clank!

In Clank!, don’t be greedy and dive too deep into the caverns for the best loot, as too much noise will wake the dragon! This game is an excellent intro to the deck building genre, where everyone starts with the same small deck of cards. Throughout the game, you will buy powerful cards representing items, weapons, and loyal companions, and add them to your deck to make it larger and stronger!

Enjoy playing Clank? Try this next: Aeon’s End (2016)

   

Wingspan (2019)

Wingspan

Build a network of wildlife preserves in order to discover and attract a diverse collection of birds to them in a game of Wingspan! As you grow out each of your three different habitats, you will continue to improve your abilities to discover new species, attract them to your preserves, and help them breed. Can you be the one who builds out the most diverse and thriving aviary?

  • Players: 2 - 4
  • Time: 45 - 60 minutes
  • Categories: Card Drafting, Engine Building, Strategy
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Wingspan? Try this next: Terraforming Mars (2016)

   

Lords of Waterdeep (2012)

Lords of Waterdeep

In Lords of Waterdeep, you play as a powerful lord vying for control of the resplendent city of Waterdeep in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. This game is an excellent introduction to the worker placement mechanic common in many modern board games, where in each turn you send out your agents to different locations to perform certain actions, blocking anyone else from using that same location until the next round. Recruit adventurers, make shady deals, and complete quests in order to increase your wealth and influence!

  • Players: 2 - 5
  • Time: 60 - 120 minutes
  • Categories: Worker Placement, Resource Management, Strategy
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Lords of Waterdeep? Try this next: Everdell (2018)

   

 

Narrative-Driven Games

Board games with plot! If strategy isn’t up your ally, perhaps you’d like to dive deep into a fictional world and experience a story from the inside as one of the participants. Bring out your inner Sherlock Holmes as you investigate murders and crack cases together with your friends!  

Chronicles of Crime (2018)

Chronicles of Crime

In this cooperative crime investigation game, you play as a team of police officers and detectives solving criminal cases that are popping up in London. This will involve talking to witnesses, interrogating suspects, collecting evidence, and even investigating the crime scenes in detail through virtual reality with your phone! Can you piece together the evidence and connect the dots to catch the killer in the shortest amount of time?

  • Players: 1 - 4
  • Time: 60 - 90 minutes
  • Categories: Cooperative, Deduction, Story-driven, Murder/Mystery
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Chronicles of Crime? Try this next: Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game (2018)

   

T.I.M.E Stories (2015)

T.I.M.E Stories

Travel back in time and take possession of local hosts as you seek to protect humanity by preventing temporal faults and paradoxes from occurring. In T.I.M.E stories, you will be exploring old cities, solving puzzles, surviving attacks from creatures, and even jump from one host to another in order to complete your mission. Failure is not an option - if you die, your abilities lets you jump back to the beginning, armed with all the knowledge you have acquired. Do you have what it takes to become a successful temporal agent?

Enjoy playing T.I.M.E Stories? Try this next: The 7th Continent (2017)

   

 

Two Player Games

Only have one partner to play with most of the time? There are plenty of games out there designed to be an amazing and fun experience for just two!  

Hanamikoji (2013)

Hanamikoji

In Hanamikoji, you will compete to earn the favor of seven illustrious geishas by presenting them with gifts of their performance item of choice! You’ll be dividing these tools and instruments into groups, but your opponent will often get to choose first amongst the gifts you present them. Can you anticipate your opponent’s moves and outwit them to win the favor of the most geishas?

  • Players: 2
  • Time: 15 minutes
  • Categories: I Cut You Choose, Area Majority, Hand Management
  • Links: Video, Amazon, BoardGameGeek

Enjoy playing Hanamikoji? Try this next: Battle Line (2000) / Jaipur (2009)

   

Santorini (2016)

Santorini

In this game, players move two workers around the board while constructing the beautiful island of Santorini, racing to be the first person to reach the highest story of one of the buildings! Each player also starts with one of forty possible god powers, making each game very different from another. Santorini is a very simple and accessible game that still packs a large amount of strategic depth!

Enjoy playing Santorini? Try this next: Patchwork (2014) / Onitama (2014)

   

7 Wonders: Duel (2015)

7 Wonders: Duel

In 7 Wonders: Duel, players compete to build the grandest civilization over three ages! Take turns drafting various technologies and constructing wonders of the world as you amass more wealth and power. With three possible victory conditions, which path will you choose — military might, scientific superiority, or cultural dominance?

Enjoy playing 7 Wonders: Duel? Try this next: Star Realms (2014)

   

 

And that’s the end of the list! I hope that from this guide, you’ll get a sense of how fun modern board games can be, and have discovered several games in the process that you really enjoy. Keep a lookout for detailed reviews of certain games in the future!

Disclaimer: I did not include games like Ticket to Ride, Catan, Carcassone, and Codenames, as those are commonly recommended everywhere else, but those are also great games for beginners to try!

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