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The Big Board Game List
 This is just a list of board games. If we have a page on a
specific board game, we've linked to it. These are organized in
alphabetical order, and this page is a work in progress, so it's
incomplete. I've included a brief description of each game.
0
- 7 Wonders - A card game where your goal is to
develop your hand over the course of three ages.
- 1830: Railways & Robber Barons - The players'
goal is to make the most cash buying and selling stock in
various rail companies.
- 1960: The Making of the President - Players
take the roles of John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon during
the 1960 presidential election.
A
- Abalone - Michel Lalet's and Laurent Levi's
abstract strategy
board game for 2 persons, played with colored marbles.
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Acquire - Players invest in businesses with
the goal of maintaining a majority of stock in each company. Has
a tile placement element.
- Advanced Squad Leader - A revision of the
original Squad Leader game.
- Age of Steam - Players take the roles of
railroad tycoons who want to finance their locomotives and
railroad tracks.
-
Agon - An abstract strategy game played on a hexagonal
board.
-
Agricola - Players take the role of farmers
with wives. Your goal is to get meaningful work done and expand
your household.
- Alien Frontiers - A science fiction themed
board game where players take the roles of deep space colonists.
- Amun Re - Players become pharaohs in Egypt
with the goal of building pyramids.
-
Apples to Apples - This isn't really a board game.
It's more of a party game/word game/card game, but it's so much
fun we felt like we had to include it.
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Are You a Werewolf? - Another party game, with more
in common with poker and roleplaying games than anything else.
-
Arkham Horror - A horror themed boardgame
inspired by the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Several
Arkham Horror expansions are now available.
- Automobile - Players run automotive factories
over the course of several years.
-
Axis and Allies - Possibly the most famous World War
II board game ever. The section about Axis & Allies on
our site includes multiple pages, including sections about some
of the various spinoff/expansion games like
Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge and
Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal.
B
- Babel - One of the games featured in the
Kosmos 2-player series of games, with "ancient world" and
"temples" themes.
-
Backgammon - A traditional game that combines
elements of chance with strategy. Commonly played as a gambling
game.
- Balloon Cup - Another of Kosmos two player
series. The players take short balloon trips and use colored
cubes to keep score.
- Battle Line - Players try to win flags which
are determined by placing cards into hands.
- BattleLore - A wargame set in a fantasy
version of Medieval Europe.
-
Battlestar Galactica - Players take the roles
of characters from the show, and their goal is to help humanity
survive.
-
Betrayal at House on the Hill - A horror themed
board game with really high production values.
-
Blood Bowl - A fantasy version of football
played by orcs.
-
Boggle - A famous word game--not as famous as
Scrabble, which is a crossword puzzle board game. Boggle
is a word search board game.
- Brass - A historical game where players try to
build cotton mills, coal mines, and other things in order to
have them used and score points.
C
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Candyland - One of the most famous kids' games in
the United States.
-
Car
Wars - More of a miniatures game from Steve Jackson,
where cars battle it out in the near future.
-
Carcassonne - A tile laying game set in
historic France.
- Caylus - Players take the roles of master
builders who are responsible for building the King's castle and
the surrounding city.
- Chaos in the Old World - Players portray gods
in the fantasy setting of Warhammer.
-
Checkers - One of the most famous and popular
abstract strategy board games in the world, and a game which
appeals to young and old alike.
-
Chess
- Possibly THE most famous abstract strategy board game
of all time.
- Civilization - Players lead ancient
civilizations throughout history.
- Claustrophobia - A fantasy adventure game
representing battles in underground tunnels.
-
Cluedo
- Whether you call it Clue or Cluedo, it's
still the most famous and popular game of amateur detective-ness
in the world. This section of our site includes multiple pages,
including pages about
Clue: Secrets and Spies and
Clue: Discover the Secrets.
- Combat Commander: Europe - A board game that
recreates tactical infantry combat in Europe during the second
World War.
- Commands & Colors: Ancients - A historical war
game that spans from 3000BC to 400AD.
- Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! Russia
1941-1942 - A tactical boardgame set during the German
invasion of Russia.
- Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel! Kursk 1943
- A wargame that recreates the German tank attack on Kursk.
-
Cosmic Encounter - Players lead an alien race
that's establishing colonies in the other players' solar
systems.
- Crokinole - An abstract strategy game that
requires skill in order to flick the disks.
- Cyclades - Players build cities in the ancient
Greek islands, the Cyclades.
D
- Descent: Journeys in the Dark - A fantasy
boardgame of dungeon crawling, with multiple scenarios.
- Die Macher - Players control political parties
in different German regions during various elections.
-
Diplomacy - A favorite board game of JFK's, Walter
Cronkite's, and Henry Kissinger's.
- Dixit - A storytelling card game.
- Dominant Species - Players take the
roles of a class of animals, and their goal is to survive the
impending Ice Age.
-
Dominion - A popular card game where the
players take the roles of monarchs trying to expand their
kingdoms.
-
Dork Tower - A tongue-in-cheek comedy fantasy board
game with art from John Kovalic.
- Dune - A board game set in the eponymous
universe of Frank Herbert.
- Dungeon Lords - A dungeon crawl board game
where the players run the dungeons--hiring monsters, buying
traps, etc.
E
- Earth Reborn - A science fiction board game
set 5000 years after a nuclear holocaust.
- Egizia - Players build monumnets in ancient
Egypt.
- El Grande - Players take the roles of Grandes
in Spain during the medieval time period. Your goal is to draft
caballeros and take control of provinces.
- Endeavor - Players try to build a European
empire by exploring and trading throughout the world.
F
G
-
 Galaxy Trucker - A science fiction board game
where players try to build spaceships using sewer pipes.
- A Game of Thrones - Players take the roles of
several noble families fighting for control of the kingdoms.
Based on the George R.R. Martin novels. Gameplay is similar to
Diplomacy.
- Glenn Drover's Age of Empires: The Age of Discovery
- Players portray colonial powers seeking wealth and
fame in the New World.
- Glory to Rome - A resource management game
where players try to rebuild Rome after a fire in 64AD.
- Go - An ancient abstract strategy game that
originated in China.
- Goa - An auction and resource management game
set in India and Portugal.
H
- Hammer of the Scots - A boardgame that
recreates the rebellion of William Wallace, the Braveheart.
-
Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage - A historical
game set in 200BC that recreates the struggle between Hannibal
and the Roman Republic.
- Hansa Teutonica - Players portray traders who
try to control cities through a network of offices.
- Here I Stand: Wars of the Reformation 1517-1555
- A boardgame that recreates the religious and
political conflicts of Europe in the 1500's.
- Hive - An abstract strategy game without an
actual board, Hive can be played on any flat surface or
table.
I
-
Illuminati - The card game of conspiracy written by
Steve Jackson.
- Imperial - Players portray investors who
influence politics.
- Imperial 2030 - Players represent investors
who influence politics in the future. A science fiction themed
version of Imperial.
- In the Year of the Dragon - Players become
rulers in China in the year 1000AD. During the course of the
game, they have to deal with disease, drought, and Mongol
attacks.
- Indonesia - An economic game that transitions
from an agricultural to an industrial economy during gameplay.
J
K
-
Kill Dr. Lucky - James Ernst's game stands Clue
on its head. Players take the roles of the murderers before and
during the crime, instead of after.
L
- Le Havre - Players take the roles of townsfolk
in Le Havre, a port city in France, where they use good from the
wharves to make points.
- London - This board game is set in London
during the 250 years following the Great Fire. It's a
citybuilding game.
- The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game - A
cooperative card game set in Tolkien's Middle Earth.
- Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation - A two
player game that pits Mordor against the rest of Middle Earth.
M
- Mansions of Madness - Like Arkham Horror,
this game is inspired by the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Players
portray investigators exploring haunted houses and other spooky
places.
- Memoir '44 - A World War II boardgame that
represents multiple battles.
- Merchants & Marauders - A boardgame that
recreates the golden age of piracy.
- Modern Art - A Reiner Knizia game in which
players buy and sell works of art. The goal is to make the most
profit while buying and selling.
-
Monopoly - The classic real estate buying and
selling game with thousands of editions.
-
Munchkin - A card game that spoofs RPG's.
- Mystery Express - A board game with a similar
theme to Clue but very different gameplay.
N
- Napoleon's Triumph - A wargame that recreates
the Austerlitz battlefield.
- Navegador - A boardgame that simulates the
Portuguese Age of Discoveries in the 1500's.
- Notre Dame - This game is set in Paris in the
late 14th century. Players take the roles of influential
families who are trying to increase their power and prestige.
O
-
Ogre
- A miniatures game that pits super tanks of the future
against each other.
P
- Pandemic - A challenging, cooperative
boardgame where players portray members of the Center for
Disease Control trying to stop a pandemic from destroying the
world.
-
Parcheesi - The classic racing board game from
India, which was the precursor to Sorry.
-
Paths of Glory - A card game driven war game
set during World War I.
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Pictionary - Another great party game. Similar to
Charades, only with drawing instead of acting.
- Power Grid - Your goal is to supply cities
with power by routing and connecting between power plants.
- The Princes of Florence - Players take the
roles of families in Florence. Your goal is to attract scholars
and artists, who generate work points which can be used to
achieve victory.
-
Puerto Rico - A game for 2-5 players in which
the players take the roles of plantation owners in Puerto Rico.
Q
R
- Ra - An Egyptian themed auction game, where
players can build monuments and influence pharaohs.
-
Race for the Galaxy - The players' goal in
this card game is to build a galactic civilization.
- Railroad Tycoon - Set during the early days of
the railroads, the player's goal is to build a railroad empire.
A simplified version of Age of Steam.
- Railways of the World - A revision of the
Railroad Tycoon boardgame.
-
Risk
- Another classic of world domination. Everyone I know
has played Risk at some point in their life.
- Runewars - A fantasy game where players try to
conquer territories. It's set in the same fantasy universe as
Runebound and Descent: Journeys in the Dark.
S
- Samurai - A Reiner Knizia game with a Japanese
theme.
-
The Settlers of Catan - Players build
settlements on the island of Catan.
-
Seven Dragons - Similar to Dominoes. Published by
Looney Labs.
-
Shadows over Camelot - A King Arthur themed board
game from Days of Wonder.
- Shogun - Players portray Daimyo's and their
troops, trying to develop their kingdom in Japan.
-
Small World - A fantasy boardgame where
players try to conquer a (literally) small world.
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Sorry
- A modern take on Parcheesi.
- Space Alert - Players portray spaceship crew
members who go on missions and who must cooperate in order to
survive.
- Space Hulk - Players take the roles of two
factions, the Space Marines and the Genestealers, on an ancient,
giant space vessel.
- Steam - A train themed game similar to Age
of Steam but with different mechanics.
- Stone Age - Players take the roles of tribe
members trying to build civilization during the Stone Age.
- Struggle of Empires - A civilization building
game set in the 18th century.
T
- Taj Mahal - An auction game set in India.
-
Talisman - A fantasy quest board game with a high
degree of randomness.
-
Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization - A
civilization building game. Your goal is to develop the most
culture during the game through various means: religion,
literature, drama, etc.
- Thunderstone - A fantasy game where the
players explore dungeons and build a card deck.
- Tichu - An Asian themed card game with a
cooperative climbing aspect.
- Ticket to Ride - The players' goal is to
create the longest railway routes in North America.
- Ticket to Ride: Europe - Part of the Ticket
to Ride series, this one is set in Europe at the turn of the
century.
- Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries - Part of the
Ticket to Ride series of boardgames, this one is set in
Demark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden.
-
Tigris & Euphrates - A civilization building
game with a tile placement mechanic. Considered by some people
to be Reiner Knizia's masterpiece.
- Tikal - Players explore Central American
jungles.
- Troyes - A historical boardgame set in France.
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Trivial Pursuit - Probably the most famous and
popular trivia board game in history.
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Twilight Struggle - A two player board game
that simulates the Cold War.
U
- Up Front - A card game in which players
command a squad of soldiers.
V
W
- Wallenstein - A boardgame set during the Thirty Years' War.
- War of the Ring - A two player game where
players control the two sides of the War of the Ring in
Tolkien's Middle-Earth.
- Warhammer: Invasion - A two player card game that simulates war in the Warhammer universe.
- Wiz War - A beer and pretzels game where you get to play
Harry Potter type wizards having fights.
X
Y
-
 Yinsh - An abstract strategy game with rings
and markers.
Z
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Zombies!!! - Twilight Creations' classic tile laying
and miniatures game about the zombie apocalypse.
Did we forget to list your favorite board game? If so, contact us
with the name of the game, and we'll update the page.
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