When friends are around, there’s nothing like a good tabletop game to pass the time. And when you have a few drinks at hand, these games can even turn your time together into a party! Tabletop games have a rich history; they have been present in most cultures throughout history, from the Jiroft Civilization in Iran to the 13th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. So, it’s no exaggeration to say that they are among humanity’s favorite pastimes of all time. Even today, with the near-infinite distractions available from Netflix to video games, tabletop games still remain popular.
However, not all of them are meant to be played in large groups. In fact, a large number of modern tabletop games play better when they only involve a few people. These are the games where every player’s move counts and each player’s choices matter a lot more than with tabletop games for large groups.
10 Cosmic Encounter
Cosmic Encounter has been around since 1977, but it has maintained its level of brilliance and fun in all its iterations. In the game, the players each take control of a different alien race, and they try to establish their colonies on their alien rivals’ planets. The methods don’t always have to be violent; players can negotiate with each other and form temporary alliances.
The game is potentially simple, though its setup might confuse players unfamiliar with it—and players can make it challenging depending on how they play. Either way, Cosmic Encounter is always certain to offer a solid 1-2 hours of fun gameplay.
9 Jaws: The Game
Based on the blockbuster 1975 film, Jaws: The Game lets gamers play as either the shark or the movie’s heroes. For those who play as the heroes, teamwork is essential.
The game offers two phases. The first one, on Amity Island, has the shark attempting to eat as many swimmers as it can while the heroes try to stop it. The second phase, meanwhile, is an all-out death battle between the heroes and the shark aboard the film’s iconic ship, the Orca.
Jaws: The Game is one of the few tabletop games that is fun even with two players, though it allows up to four players.
8 King of Tokyo
King of Tokyo is among the best tabletop games that fans of the kaiju—or giant monster—genre will enjoy. It lets players control one of several kaiju that rampage through Tokyo. The objective is for the players to compete to cause the most destruction to the city. There are monsters based on King Kong and Godzilla, and others like Space Penguin and Cyber Kitty, which resembles a Power Rangers mech suit. The game is unashamedly silly, but that’s part of its charm.
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King of Tokyo is also easy to get into, and players of all ages should be able to enjoy it.
7 Mysterium
Not many whodunit tabletop games exist that can compare to Clue. So, it’s a lucky thing that Mysterium is that good. The game is set in a classic ancient mansion. One of the players has died, and it’s up to them to solve the case of their own murder. Of course, the player can also take on the role of a psychic who is also trying to crack the case. The ghost is limited to communicating through ‘visions’, which the game represents in the form of cards.
Mysterium might be too quirky for some, but it’s a solid murder-mystery most fans will enjoy.
6 Fallout: The Board Game
Many popular video games have spawned their own tabletop versions. However, few are as engaging as Fallout: The Board Game. The game lets players go on a post-apocalyptic adventure to the remains of America. Their adventure includes everything from factions to join to multiple quests, monsters to slay, loot to collect, and four different wastelands to explore.
Just like video games, decisions players make in Fallout: The Board Game have consequences. The faction that the player joins, in particular, has a significant effect on the fate of the wasteland. Best played between 1 and 4 players, Fallout: The Board Game is as close to the perfect video game adaptation as we can get.
5 Scythe
Scythe is set in an alternate 1920s world, where farmers and their animals live with massive diesel-punk mechs. However, everyone is fighting to gain power and win the game.
Scythe has plenty of interesting battles, where players can blow up their enemies, make a bluff or even grab an uninhabited land while the others are distracted. However, players can also win without engaging in a single battle. They can simply build and expand their economies until they develop the most.
As an economy-based tabletop game for up to 5 players, Scythe also boasts breathtaking visuals that make the game even more fun to play.
4 Bananagrams
Scrabble has inspired a ton of imitators over the years. But not many are on the level of Bananagrams. This tabletop game challenges players to use letter tiles to form a crossword. The words don’t just have to make sense; they also need to connect to one another. And to amp up the tension, every player takes a tile after the one playing uses up their pile. Players can come from behind to win the game since it’s not over until all the tiles are used up.
Bananagrams is a more fast-paced alternative to Scrabble, and it’s a good time to fans of word games.
3 Gloomhaven
Some players aren’t excited by fast-paced board games with simple rules; they want something lasting well over an hour, with incredibly detailed and complicated gameplay. For them, board games don’t get much better than Gloomhaven.
This is a deep roleplaying board game that offers a sprawling adventure that lasts across multiple sessions. The consequences of each session carry over to the next one. Once the players select their avatars, they explore the game’s dark depths as they engage monsters through turn-based combat.
Gloomhaven is one of the most expensive board games at retail price, but it’s well worth it. It offers over 1,700 cards, 50 missions, a fold-out map and more.
2 Betrayal at House on the Hill
One of the best horror-themed tabletop games ever made, Betrayal at House on the Hill is full of tension. It lets players explore a mansion that gets unveiled room by room. The room tiles are drawn randomly, which gives the game a sense of unpredictability.
As the game continues, players encounter calamities, creepy events and ‘Omens’. Players need to work together to survive these ordeals. That is, except for one player whose role is to betray the rest and cause their deaths.
For players who want a longer experience than the one hour it usually takes, Betrayal at House on the Hill has a Legacy Edition that gives each session permanent consequences.
1 Pandemic
Pandemic is one of the games that perfectly embodies what a strategic tabletop game should be: easy to learn but difficult to master. The game is simple enough: you and your team are pitted against a series of outbreaks, and you need to find a cure for each disease through collecting five cards of a certain color.
However, new infections appear after each turn, and if three of them show up in one location, they spread to nearby cities. Things get bad pretty fast, and this forces players to choose between minimizing the diseases and developing a cure. The game is tense and plenty of fun.