For a lot of people, game night is a sacred rite where you gather with family and friends and enjoy each other's company and hospitality. And whether you are hosting or invited, you don't want to have games that would bring down the mood of the group's festivities, such as ones that have a long playtime or would take forever to learn. Here is a list of the top 25 Board Games to have with friends that you are welcome to reference and seek for inspiration on your next big night!
25. Tsuro: The Game of the Path
In life, there are many paths you can choose. Choose well and you’ll be rewarded greatly with success, profit, and overall satisfaction. Choose poorly and you may not be so lucky. Has the path you’ve chosen been a wise choice? You may not know until far later in life, but you don’t have to wait as long in Tsuro: The Game of the Path.
In Tsuro, players choose colored tokens and place them on any starting mark located on a 6x6 board. Players are also given three tiles with paths drawn on them. They may look at these tiles as it is important to know what path they can take. On your turn, you place a tile down and move your token on the path that is created until it reaches its end. Then you draw another tile from the deck and wait for your next turn.
Stay on the board as long as you can!
If there are no more tiles to draw, then the next player that can’t play gets the dragon tile, which means that when more tiles become available due to player elimination, they are first to draw the next time. The player who keeps their marker on the board the longest is the winner. In the case of double or more eliminations, then they are tied as winners.
Tsuro is perfect for game night for a lot of reasons. First, it is a beautiful board where a phoenix lies in the center, and the tokens have dragons etched onto them. Second, the rules are simple. It only takes one playthrough and you are basically a pro at it. While there may be some strategy near the end to help you win, your plan can fall apart depending on what tile a player sets down before your turn. Third, it’s a quick game. A typical playthrough is 15-20 minutes, sometimes faster than that. When the draw pile gets smaller and smaller, you know that the game is going to end shortly.
Buy this game if:
- You want simple gameplay with lots of replay value.
- You have friends that are new to game nights and want something fun and fast to start things off.
- You are a fan of Chinese aesthetics.
24. Snake Oil
The definition of a Snake Oil Salesman is someone who sells, offers, or promotes a worthless item, concoction, or solution to a problem. In the game of Snake Oil, you get to play salesman trying to sell useless, made-up items.!
All players start out with word cards (six in total) in their hands. One player is then chosen to play as the customer. He draws a card that will have an occupation on both sides. He chooses which occupation and the game begins.
The other players look at their word cards and choose two that may fit the need of the customer’s occupation, then comes up with a bit on how to sell that item and pitch the idea, typically taking 30 seconds. Once everyone has had a chance to offer their item, the customer then chooses the best one.
What word combinations will you come up with to make a sale?
The game is over after everyone has had a turn as the customer, and the player with the most customer cards wins.
If you like Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples but want something with a twist, this is a great game to bring along for your game night. It’ll get good interactions out of even the quietest people, and you’re guaranteed laughs.
Buy this game if:
- You want a fun party game that provokes creativity.
- You want a good laugh throughout the night.
- You have creative friends that can think of ideas on the spot.
23. Poetry for Neanderthals
Games nights are all about having fun with your friends and family and sometimes making a fool of yourself. There are many games that can do that, but do you know many that ask you to talk like a neanderthal and hit people with an inflatable object? Then Poetry for Neanderthals may be the next game to bring along!
You split up into teams of two, and you draw a card with a word or idea. Then you describe the said word just like a neanderthal would, and that’s with only one-syllable words. For example, using the aforementioned remote control, you could describe it as (I use this black stick, I point this to square box, push dots and make a change to screen). Sounds simple right?
For every correct answer your team makes, you earn points. On the other team however is someone looming over you with a big inflatable club, ready to strike down on you for using wrong words, for using gestures, or if you even look like you’re cheating a little bit. Biff, bam, boom! Every strike gives you negative points and a possible migraine.
The team that has the most points after everyone has had one turn as neanderthal wins.
A perfect addition to your game night!
This is a perfect addition to your game night collection for various reasons. For starters, it’s a silly game with a silly way to play. Secondly, nothing is better than hitting your friend after they’ve made mistakes and yelling “no!” Thirdly, it tests your knowledge of one-syllable words. For all of the English majors out there that like to flaunt their fancy vocabulary around, this is a good game to knock them down a few notches.
Buy this game if you:
- Like games that encourage you to act like a fool.
- Enjoy hitting your friends and family with inflatable objects.
22. Muffin Time
If you are familiar with YouTuber TomSka or more importantly his ASDF animated shorts, you are probably also familiar with the humor behind it: Random, outlandish, slightly macabre, and bizarre. Those are just a few words that would best describe these videos, but that’s what makes them so darn funny. TomSka recently released his own card game based on his animated shorts and the dark humor matches perfectly.
In Muffin Time!, your goal is to draw cards and play them and make sure that you end up with 10 cards in your hand at the start of your next turn to win. Sounds simple right? Well, there are plenty of action cards that players can use to switch hands, add more cards to their own hands, or take cards away from you entirely.
Play your cards well and be the first to yell "It's Muffin Time!"
And there are trap cards that players can slip their way into the game and can be activated by random things you do out of habit. Did you just ask for the time? Guess what, you just activated someone’s trap card and must now give them four of your cards. Took a bite of your nachos? That’s three cards out of your hand that you need to trash unless you have counter cards to prevent that.
If you can somehow rise out of the chaos and keep 10 cards in your hand at the start of your turn and yell “It’s Muffin Time!”, you win.
A perfect example of chaotic energy in a box! Bring this game out and your night will turn into a scramble as your friends are trying to gather cards ruining each other’s night with traps and counter cards.
Buy this game if:
- You are familiar with ASDF videos and love the dark humor.
- You want a card game that anyone can enjoy or get into.
21. Blockbuster
Did you ever have the wonderful opportunity as a child to drive out to your local movie rental store, spend an hour looking through all of the aisles and arguing on what to watch, and then finally decide on something just in time to grab a pizza and a 2-liter soda on the way back to the house? Man, those were some good times!
Or maybe you didn’t grow up with that, and that’s okay! You just never had the experience of having the greatest Friday night feeling in the world, that’s all. Well, here's a solution! Pop some corn and get your coziest blanket, because it’s time for a movie night…Or in this case, a game night!
In Blockbuster, you play in teams of two to clash over who has the most movie knowledge. You claim movie category cards through the game, and the first team to collect all eight categories is the winner.
You start things off in the head-to-head round where one person from each team clashes to show off their movie knowledge by listing off films based on a head-to-head card, such as “movies that take place in a jungle.” The first player that comes up with a movie says that title (like Predator) and hits the buzzer to start the timer. The second player then lists another movie (Jumanji) and hits the buzzer too. This goes back and forth until someone can’t think of another title before the buzzer goes off.
The winner then grabs six movie cards, decides which three to keep, and gives the others to the opposing player. Then they try to have their team guess the movies through one-word phrases, movie quotes, and acting it out.
A perfect option to play for movie buffs as well as board game enthusiasts, this is a must-have for game nights. And you don’t necessarily have to know the movie by heart, you just need to know enough to win.
Buy this game if:
- You love movies or have a nostalgia for the 90s-2000s childhood, or just have an incredibly vast knowledge of movie trivia.
20. Tapple
Do you know your alphabet? Do you know words that start with the letters of the alphabet? Because that’s all you need to play the next game on this list: Tapple!
In Tapple, your goal is to be the last person standing in a round. You play by placing the Tapple wheel in the center of the group and drawing a category card. When a category is announced (let’s say that the category is zoo animals), then you start by stating what pops into your head first, such as Bears. Okay, the letter B is now pushed down, and you hit the button on the Tapple wheel to start the timer. The next player says Lion and pushes the letter L down, and hits the button again, resetting it. Everyone keeps doing this with all of the remaining alphabet letters. If one player cannot come up with a response before the timer is up, he is out for that game. You continue playing in that category until there is only one person left, and that person is the winner.
Come up with as many words as you can with the letters still available!
The game is as simple as it gets, and that is a very appealing feature for game nights, especially for those that don’t play board or tabletop games that often. Anyone can get into it, and anyone can win as long as they are fast-thinkers, or at least faster than others.
Buy this game if:
- You want a simple, easy-to-play game.
- Want to impress your friends with your knowledge of things that start with the letter W.
19. Codenames
If you have a friend that invited a LOT of people to their game night, you are going to need a game that can accommodate that many players. Enter Codenames! Your mission, should you choose to accept, is one of two: Play his team of comrades and find the agents (red or blue, depending on which team you are on) and avoid the assassin or play the Spymaster and guide your team.
The role of the Spymasters is to give one-word clues that will help his team pick out words from a choice of 25 that are laid out in front of them. The Spymasters know which words belong to which team from a grid card that only they can see. Chances are that these words that they want their team to pick have absolutely no direct correlation with each other, but it’s up to the Spymaster to determine what words to say, or not say, to help them pick the right cards. But watch out! Saying the wrong thing can lead your team to pick the other team's cards, find civilians, or worse…find the assassin card, which results in an immediate loss.
Find your secret agents first!
The replayability of Codenames is tremendous! There are 400 words included in the game, and since you can only play 25 words each game, you can replay over and over again and it never feels like you're playing the same way each time. That makes for a great game night.
Buy this game if:
- You have lots of friends over for game night-this game virtually has no player limit!
- You want a game that anyone can play with little time for explaining the rules.
18. The Chameleon
The Chameleon is a social deduction game where you gather your friends in a circle and grab a card from a deck that has a series of numbers and letters that match a set of dice that come with the game. With the dice and a decoder card, a secret word is revealed on a card with words that are themed such as comedies, sports, or famous people. Almost everyone will know the secret word and will start thinking of a clue that is related to the word, except for one person…
Only one player in your midst will have a card that says that he is the Chameleon, and he has no clue what the word is. He must try to blend in as much as possible and come up with his clue and hope it works.
After a countdown, everyone in the group will quickly say their clue (one right after the other) that is related to the secret word. But be careful! Make it too obvious and the Chameleon will know the secret word, but make it too vague and everyone is gonna think you’re the Chameleon even if you’re not.
You are allowed to use a word that was already said by another player if you can’t think of one, which is a good strategy for the Chameleon, but use that option wisely to avoid being suspicious.
After a brief discussion, everyone will point to whomever they think is the Chameleon. If they’re wrong, the Chameleon wins the round. If right, then the Chameleon has one chance to guess the secret word and win. If he is wrong, then he is caught and the round is over.
You should bring this to your game night because of the fun you can experience watching your friends start to sweat as you stare at them suspiciously during each round. Or if you are a good liar, then this game is a must-have to show off your mythomania.
Buy this game if:
- You enjoy games that are easy to learn. Two minutes into the game and you'll already be a master.
- You like games where you have to bluff sometimes to win. Wanna find out who is a terrible liar in your group? Then play this game.
17. Unstable Unicorns
Someone once told me that a unicorn’s favorite card game is Uno-corn. I called them a dummy and said that’s wrong because their favorite game is Unstable Unicorns. Yep, that’s my intro to this game. Sorry, not sorry.
In Unstable Unicorns, your goal is to obtain your army of unicorns first before anyone else. You and your group start out with a little baby unicorn and the rest that aren’t in play will go to the middle (which will be called The Nursery). During your turn, you’ll do the following:
- Beginning of your turn-this only happens if there are cards in your hand that only start at the, you guessed it, beginning of your turn.
- Draw Phase- you draw one card.
- Action Phase-you play one card or you can draw an additional card.
- End of your turn-this is when you discard cards from your hand if you have more than seven.
During your play, you try to grab as many unicorns as you can for your stable, because having a certain amount means you win the game. There are cards that will stop you from completing this such as Magic, Downgrades, and Neigh cards (meaning it stops certain cards from taking effect, especially if a card was placed to affect your stable in a bad way.
Build up your unicorn army and conquer!
The first person to muddle through the uni-corny jokes and cards and raise enough unicorns is the winner.
This is a really easy game to play once you get the hang of it, however, there is a card for each player that has the rules of each turn as well as terminology (words you need to know) for the game, so that’s good for new players to the game. The original copy of Unstable Unicorns is also friendly for children, mostly.
Buy this game if:
- You have friends that are into unicorns and stuff.
- You want a card game that is friendly for all audiences to play.
16. Exploding Kittens: Original Edition
If you have the type of friends that want a nice, quiet game night, then a fair warning is needed: this game will not be quiet. This game will not be calm. This game will be explosive. So explosive in fact, that it’s the entire plot of the game. Welcome to Exploding Kittens.
You have a wide variety of cats to play with. You have hairy potato cats, cattermelons, rainbow-ralphing cats, a Tacocat (it’s a palindrome!), and more! There’s just one cat that you need to avoid and, you guessed it, it’s the exploding kind.
The object of the game is to be the last one alive by not having an exploding kitten in your hand. If you do, you had better hope that you have a defuse card so that you can put that cat right back into the draw pile.
Self-explanatory.
There are multiple cards to help you avoid exploding while sabotaging the other players. You have skip cards, attack cards, and even cards that allow you to peek inside the deck. Play all of these wisely and you’ll rise victoriously from the ashes of your fallen foes and be declared the winner.
This is a fun game with some interesting art choices for the cards. They are simple yet macabre. And if you love the original edition so much, or if it was really popular for game night, there are multiple expansion packs you can buy separately to keep the madness going each time.
Buy this game if:
- You love games with nonsensical and humorous cards and rules.
- You have no problem backstabbing your friends to win.
15. Medium: A Mind-Reading Game
If you are going to a game night where you know that there are going to be new people, then you are going to want something that will break the ice, something that will help you get to know the person the best way possible, but those get-to-know-you games can get really personal and awkward at times. We think that Medium will be the perfect game to remedy that.
Medium is a party game that will encourage you to dig deep and find a psychic connection with your teammate (you’ll technically have two teammates, but they won’t be on the same team). Whichever pair has the most points before the crystal ball shatters is the winner.
Gathering in a circle, your teammates that you’ll be connecting with will be the persons to your right and left side. Each of you will be given word cards (six in total). Starting with the person to your left, you play a card in front of you and they will do the same. Now that you have two words to work with, you both must think of a word that connects the two.
After a countdown, you both say your words together. If they match, you get three points. If they don’t, you try again but with the new words that you both said. If you succeed in that, you get two points. If you fail to match again, you repeat the steps with the NEW new words and get one point if you succeed to match by that point. If you don’t, then better luck next time. You both draw a new card from the pile and the next team plays their turn.
The game continues as long as the Crystal Ball remains intact. It begins to shatter when players pull the cracked crystal ball cards from the draw pile. After three are drawn, the game is over and the team that has the most points wins.
This is a fun game to play especially if you are familiar with the group of people that you are with. If you have never met the person before, then it’s a great way to find out more about them from what words they come up with while playing with you and make new friends along the way.
Buy this game if:
- You’re looking for a game that’s unique from other card games that have been played before.
- You want a more intimate view of how another person thinks when given the same words as you.
14. What Do You Meme?
Have you ever gone through social media and NOT come across a meme? They're everywhere, and for some people, memes are a way of life. And although it looks simple enough, apparently making a funny meme is tough! So if you are not willing to put your funny bone to the test, play What Do You Meme?
What Do You Meme? is a judge-based game where you have a photo (typically from an already popular meme template bouncing around the Internet) in the center and seven caption cards in your hand. As a judge, you pull a photo card from the draw pile and place it on the included easel of the game. The other players look at their caption cards and figure out which one they think works best with the photo. They give the caption card to the judge and he reads them aloud. He then declares which one is the best and the winner for that round gets the photo card as his point.
Come up with the perfect captions for every meme!
Once everyone has played as a judge (or until everyone is bored), then the player with the most photo cards is the winner.
This is a staple of the party game category, and it feels like almost everyone has played it before, but very few actually say that they don’t enjoy it. If you don’t have any board games, but still want to have a lot of fun at game night, go for this one.
Buy this game if:
- You enjoy memes and meme culture.
- Have played Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity and want a similar game with a new spin on judge-based gaming.
13. Puns of Anarchy
Do you like pun-ishing games? Do you feel pun-der pressure to come up with a good pun? Do you want to pun-ch me in the face for making all of these puns? I pun-derstand your pain… (ahem) welcome to Puns of Anarchy.
In Puns of Anarchy, everyone gets a purple card that gives you words such as “food,” “elderly,” and “memoir.” Then everyone gets a dry-erase marker and starts pulling out topic cards in rapid-fire mode, making puns out of them, and giving them to the purple card that best fits into it. Everyone then reads the puns that fit their purple cards and awards the card to the best pun.
Put your pun-making skills to the test in this game!
The winner is the first person who wins a certain number of rounds (you decide how many).
Puns of Anarchy is a perfect game for people who are funny, or think they are funny! Perfect for kids (if you take out a few of the purple category cards) or adults (keep those cards in) and can provide hours of entertainment for everyone.
Buy this game if:
- You are good at coming up with puns at a moment’s notice.
- You want hours and hours of hilarious game time.
12. Betrayal at House on the Hill
Perhaps one of the most familiar horror-based board games of all time, you play an intrepid group that explores a house. As you explore new rooms, you will find a variety of things such as items that may or may not help you later in the game. You will also uncover events that will test your character’s physical and mental prowess. Fail these events and you may start getting scared to death…but that is the least of your worries.
Among your friends, will be a player that will betray the rest of the group, but nobody knows who that will be; the game decides depending on what happened to cause the betrayal to start. Becoming the betrayer means that you turn the tables and try to destroy the other players with new objectives while the players must meet their own objectives in order to win. Whoever is able to meet their objectives first is the winner.
Explore the house and don't lose your mind.
The original game has 50 different scenarios that can be played without the expansion packs. This means that almost every game that you play will be a new experience and the change from being on a team to suddenly be against everyone is a fun feeling to experience.
Buy this game if:
- You want a game that will give a different experience every time.
- You love board games that change on itself frequently.
11. Betrayal at Mystery Mansion
I know what you are thinking: “Wait a minute! You just listed Betrayal at House on the Hill moments ago! Why is a spin-off on the list too?” And you have every right to question it. Please allow me to explain myself.
Betrayal at Mystery Mansion is indeed a spin-off game from the same makers as Betrayal at House on the Hill. They have very similar gameplay: you explore the ins and outs of the mansion, gather omens (or clues in the case, since it’s Scooby-Doo), and discover the monster after meeting certain objectives. However, the key difference is that you already know what type of monster you are going to face before it is revealed.
In the beginning, before the game, you and your team will choose from a variety of villains that Scooby and the gang have faced in their television series. Each one is harder than the other, depending on which you pick, and the game’s rules will explain that to you. After selecting the villain, you’ll have five possible haunts based on that character. Another big difference is that the game doesn’t force a player to become the betrayer.
Take control of one of the Mystery Inc. gang and solve the mystery!
You’re playing as Scooby-Doo characters so it would be out of character for one to betray the others. Instead, you decide as a group who becomes the villain, or someone volunteers. They then abandon their character and take the role of the monster (you could add a story to explain the reason why such as they were bound and gagged by the monster and hidden away for the rest of the game).
The villain, much like in House on the Hill, has their own tome that they read to help explain the unique objectives that they must complete in order to win. The rest of the gang have their own objectives in their own book. The villain or the gang is the winner depending on who meets their objectives first.
So why is Betrayal at Mystery Mansion also on this list? Because it is simplified so that even older kids can play. Scooby-Doo is also a friendly, familiar character, so it can attract more players than its darker, grittier, macabre big brother game. In fact, this is a great game to prepare newcomers to play House on the Hill because it teaches the basic gameplay of moving through the house, drawing and playing certain cards, dice rolls, and the mental and physical health mechanics of the characters without having to play the more complex rules involving the betrayer/haunts.
Buy this game if:
- You already play Betrayal at House on the Hill or want an introduction game to prepare you for the bigger, more challenging version.
- You love the Scooby-Doo franchise or just want a more kid-friendly game for the whole family’s game night.
10. Sagrada
La Sagrada Familia, located in Barcelona, Spain, is a gem of a church that has been under construction since 1882! While nearing completion within the next few years hopefully, it needs some final touches to its stained glass windows. That’s where you come in!
In Sagrada, your job is to complete your stained glass windows and earn the most points. You earn points by completing public goals as well as your individual goal, which is known only to you.
The game comes with 90 brightly colored dice that are used to complete your window. At the start of each round, a player pulls dice out of the bag (how many you pull out depends on how many players there are) and rolls them. Then players select dice to add to their window, depending on if it meets their public and secret objective. There may also be tool cards in play that help them meet objectives without certain dice.
After 10 rounds, the player with the most points from their stained-glass window art is the winner.
While it looks intimidating at first due to all of the dice, the gameplay is smooth once everyone gets the hang of it. The dice are very colorful and the end result of your work can be a marvel to behold. While still competitive, players will enjoy the laid-back approach while making something beautiful in the process.
Buy this game if:
- You want to create something instead of destroy for your gameplay
- You are a massive dice collector. Seriously, it's 90 dice. For one game.
9. Your Worst Nightmare
Game nights are a special time with your close friends and family members and there is nothing better than games that help you draw closer to each other. You probably know a lot about your group already, but what about their fears? Or more specifically, do they have the same fears as you, or are they afraid of something that is super uncommon or downright bizarre? Then it’s time to play Your Worst Nightmare.
Your Worst Nightmare is a card game where you and up to three other players are presented with four cards that are drawn from a pile that lists common (and not so common) fears that people have. Some are legit fears. Some are more comical than others. Your task is to rank what scares you from the most to the least from those cards, then select another player and predict what their rank would be. You’d be surprised what is considered scary to other people!
Find out what scares you more...
Guessing correctly earns you points and the first to get 13 points (the phobia for the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia, fun fact) is the winner.
This is a great game for casual gamers and can be played during any time of the year, but this is definitely one that works well if you want a horror theme during gameplay.
Buy this game if:
- You want a light horror theme or have anyone among your group that isn’t big into scary games.
- You want to get to know your group better-it’s interesting what scares people and you can make great conversation out of it.
8. Villainous
Some movie villains have it rough these days. Some are misunderstood. Some are misguided. Some are pinned as bad guys with no justification other than they are just not liked by the majority. Some have tragic backstories where one goes “awww” after learning them and you begin to sympathize.
Disney villains, however, are characters that you just love to hate. They never need big motives or reasons to be the bad guy. Wasn’t invited to a birthday party? Boom, put a curse on the birthday girl. Did your hero/role model diss you in public? Bam, kill all superheroes. Someone interrupt your croquet match? Off with their heads. Simple, easy, and to the point. And like it or not, as you were growing up you have probably wondered what it would be like to be in their shoes for even a moment. And you can now with Villainous.
In Villainous you play as one of the included Disney villains in the box. Each player gets villain-specific card decks and a board that is placed in front of them during gameplay. The board will have four squares that act as the villain’s objectives. During your turn, you may take as many actions as you like to meet certain objects, such as spending power tokens, playing action cards for allies or items, or sending a Hero to stop another villain’s progress (more on that in a moment). Some squares will be locked at first, meaning that the villain needs to have certain conditions met first before progressing. I.e. Jafar can’t hypnotize the genie without first obtaining the magic lamp.
Take on the role of your favorite Disney villain!
With every good villain, there is also a hero that acts to thwart evil plans. If a player plays an action to look through your fate deck, he can pull out a hero to block your path. To defeat the hero, the villain either needs an ally of equal or greater power to banish the hero into the discard pile or an item that is the hero’s weakness.
The first villain to satisfy all conditions of their unique objectives is the winner.
Villainous is bound to please the Disney and board game fans out there. And there are many different versions of Villainous out there with different characters to play, and most recently Marvel and Star Wars, so there are plenty of options to choose from when bringing something to play for game night.
Buy this game if:
- You or your friends are Disney fans.
- You want to play a bad guy for a change.
7. Here to Slay
Here to Slay is a role-playing game except you and your friends gather cute and cuddly animals as your party to take on powerful monsters as well as each other.
Everyone starts the game by selecting their party leader, each of whom has special abilities unique to their class. Four monster cards are drawn and placed in the middle with three facing up. During your turn, you obtain action points, which you can spend to either draw a card to find a hero for your party, play an item, fight one of the monsters in the middle, or discard your entire hand and get a new one. You only get three action points each round so choose your options wisely.
During the monster battle portion, requirements must be met which will be explained on the monster’s card. If you meet the requirements you can try to fight it. You roll two dice and if you match or roll greater than the monster’s requirement to slay, you win and claim its power for your own. If you fail, then you pay a penalty listed on the card.
Gather your party of heroes and slay monsters.
Sabotage is also a factor to worry about during your play, as anyone can throw in a modifier card that changes your stats or stops you from using your item or magic entirely.
The game is over when you have successfully created your party with six different classes or if you have defeated three monsters.
Buy this game if:
- You like the cutesy art style of Unstable Unicorns and also like the RPG styles of Dungeons and Dragons.
6. Bang!
How to play Bang!
It’s High Noon, pardner, so you better keep your head low, ‘cuz the Sheriff and some outlaws are gunning each other down! In the game of Bang!, you take on the roles of these characters during their showdown.
You play as either the sheriff, the deputy, a renegade, or outlaws. These role cards are given to you at random, and everyone must keep their identity a secret except for the Sheriff. Each has its own unique goal to achieve in order to win the game.
The sheriff needs to eliminate all of the baddies to win, while the deputy protects the sheriff and tries to help eliminate everyone else without revealing his role. The renegade wants to be the next sheriff so he wants to be the last man standing, and the outlaws want to get rid of the sheriff but have no problems with wiping out the other outlaws in the process.
Get ready to draw and let bullets fly as you shoot to be the last one standing!
During the game, each player picks a character that has bullets that act as their life points and have special abilities that are unique to them that can help them stay alive as the shootout progresses. Once all of that character’s bullets are gone though, it’s adios to that player.
Throughout the game, you will draw cards to fire your weapon, regain health/bullets, avoid getting shot, and even find better weapons to give you an edge.
This game can get pretty extensive, but once you get the hang of how everything is played, you’ll have a hoot and a holler as you try to take each other out and ride into the sunset as the winner.
Buy this game if:
- You enjoy Spaghetti-Western films and tropes and want to experience them in tabletop gameplay.
- You want games with options for expansion packs.
5. SpaceTeam
You know the saying, “In space, no one can hear you scream?” Well, this game is going to make you try your darndest to be heard, at least by your teammates.
In Spaceteam, you and your team’s goal is to repair your spaceship as it is slowly drifting into a black hole. If you are not able to get it running before the time timer stops, then you lose..
To repair your ship, each of you will have blue tool cards and you’ll begin drawing from your orange deck, which includes Malfunction, Anomaly, and Systems Go cards.
Malfunction cards will tell you what tools are needed to fix a problem, but sometimes you don’t have the tools in your hand. You then need to ask your teammates if they have it. Your teammate from the other side of the group has it, so he passes it to the player next to him, who passes it on, and so on. Sometimes you have to ask loudly for help because everyone else is trying to fix their own sets of problems as well.
Repair your spaceship with your team using your best (and loudest) indoor voice.
Anomaly cards tell you an action that the team must complete quickly before continuing repairs on the ship. Systems Go cards are the parts of the ship that have been repaired. Find all of these cards to put the ship back together and win the game.
This game isn’t rocket science, so anyone can pick it up and play without difficulty. There is also a lot of replay value because of its quick game time, but it’ll make you yell at people, just as promised, so don’t play with anyone that may be sensitive.
Buy this game if:
- You want a quick, easy-to-learn, easy-to-play game night.
- You have a healthy pair of lungs.
4. Hako Onna
If your game nights are getting too saturated with fun and happy games, then maybe it's time to switch it up. You are going to need something to wipe the smiles off your friend's faces and replace them with terror, and as soon as they see the cover art for this game, they will know without a doubt that horror and doom will soon be upon them because…
Hako Onna is coming.
In Hako Onna, you will either take the role of the Japanese folklore creature Hako Onna (Girl in the Box) or the poor, helpless people that are trapped inside her house where she perished.
As Hako Onna, your goal is to eliminate all the other players. Before the game, the player that will be the Girl in the Box will set their tile in a room without telling anyone where, and they will also choose what weapon can potentially kill her. After that, they wait until the players make a noise by either failing on a unique disk-stacking component or through noise cards. Making a sound means Hako Onna takes their turn early and will make her own unique actions.
Make your way through the house and avoid Hako Onna's wrath!
The survivors’ goal is one of three: find a combination to a safe that will give you a key to the exit, pacify Hako Onna, or kill the creature. They will wander the house and lift tiles to find numbers that will reveal the safe combination, or they can locate the remains of the girl that died and also her doll and unite them to pacify Hako Onna, or they can find weapons to kill the creature. They need to pick tiles carefully though because one of them is the creature and will result in instant death.
Completing one of these goals will cause the team to win. If they all die, then the player posing as Hako Onna wins.
Buy this game if:
- You want a game with a creepy feel to it. Little girl ghosts are typically very creepy so the theme is perfect for a horror-based game night.
- You love PvE gameplay.
- You want a game where you have multiple options to win.
3. Telestrations
Are you good at drawing? Or are you just so bad at it that you can’t even begin to imagine how to start making a stick figure? Either way, Telestrations will be a fun game for you to play.
In Telestrations, your goal is to obtain a secret word and make a drawing about that secret word. Then you pass it down to the next player who writes what they think it is (without drawing anything). Then it goes to the next player who then draws what the previous player thought it was. This keeps going until it comes back to you! Did your drawing of a birthday cake successfully make its way back to you and was guessed correctly by each player? Or did it manage to make its way back to you and somehow someone thought it was something else??
There is a set of rules here on how to win, but you’ll find that you’re mostly playing this game to have fun with your friends and roast each other’s drawing skills in the process. And that’s the true spirit of Game Night.
Buy this game if:
- You don’t want competitiveness in your game night and everyone can enjoy themselves.
- You and your friends have horrendous drawing skills but don't care.
2. Dixit
Can you weave a story? Are you good at describing things? Or are you good at interpreting things that have been given to you? Then you may find Dixit on your must-have list for game night.
In Dixit, you are given six cards that feature abstract art. One player plays as the storyteller and selects one card from their hand and describes it as best (or worst) as they can. Then everyone else looks at their own hand and selects a card that best matches the storyteller’s description and gives it to him. The cards are then shuffled (including the storyteller’s) and laid out for everyone to see.
Players will review these cards and try to guess which card was the storyteller’s and take a vote. The storyteller earns points if some people guess correctly, but not everyone. If you guessed correctly on a card, you get points as well.
With over 80 cards, every playthrough is a new experience!
Your goal is to earn more points than everyone else after everyone has had a turn as the storyteller, or if you go to 30 points.
This game is something that every board game aficionado should have in their collection. It’s laid-back and the dreamy approach will appeal to a lot of people and it's fun just to see all of the cards that the game has to offer.
Buy this game if:
- You are looking for an easy game with a lot to offer for gameplay.
- You need something that will have a lot of appeal to many players.
1. High Society
In High Society, your goal is to essentially use up all of your money to purchase status and luxury. In the game, you’ll bid on items that have points to them. With the money, you have available you’ll bid your price while trying to outbid the competition. If you win, you get those points.
Alongside these luxury cards will also be prestige cards, which can double the points that you have. There are four altogether and you can tell what they are because of their green background.
There are also cards that deduct your points. You want to bid on how much you are willing to pay to NOT take those cards, otherwise having them in your collection will hurt your final score.
How much are you willing to spend on prestige and luxury?
After the fourth green prestige card is revealed and sold, the game is over. The player that has the most points is the winner, HOWEVER, if they have the least amount of money then they automatically lose the game and the next highest scoring player wins instead.
This has an interesting twist on an auction bidding game where you are encouraged to spend your money and get, but not too much otherwise all of your efforts will be for nothing. It causes you to choose carefully what you actually want and what you aren’t willing to risk your money to purchase.
Buy this game if:
- You want a game that you can travel with due to its smaller size.
- You want to play an auction-bidding game with a twist at the end.
That has been our top 25 best board games to play for game night! We hope that you found some great ideas for your next get-together with friends and if you have any other suggestions or comments, let us know!
