Board games are growing tremendously in popularity, and with that popularity has come an explosion in new games. How can you sort through the massive number of games to find ones that are worth your time? One way people do it is turning to Board Game Geek. While this can help, unfortunately, the Geeks are often prejudiced in favor of heavy games.
Sometimes, we mean that literally--have you seen the box for the game ranked number one, Gloomhaven? It weighs 22 pounds! Unfortunately, this means that games which are lighter in theme and mechanism can be pushed down in the ranking. Here are some of the games that have been unfairly pushed down the ranks.
Updated by Madison Lennon on March 6, 2020: Lots of people play video games and app games every day, but not as many people play board games since it requires having several people available to play alongside you.
The following list details some of the most underrated tabletop games out there right now and we've recently updated it to add even more. Whether you like complex strategy games or creative stories, this game should have something perfect for you and your friends to spend the night playing.
15 Dead of Winter
If you like zombie games then you'll definitely want to try out Dead of Winter, a cooperative strategy game. You and several other players will become faction leaders in a destroyed landscape with a goal of trying to keep your individual factions safe from the scourge of zombies.
However, each person also has their own secret win conditions they need to complete before they can be considered victorious. It can be a somewhat tricky game to master but it's definitely fun and worth your while, especially if you're someone who likes to come up with elaborate strategies.
14 Pandemic: Contagion
If you have heard of the original Pandemic game then you probably understand the gist of Pandemic: Contagion. It's very similar except in this version of the game you become the contagion that is intent on wiping out humanity.
You will need to be clever and crafty as you infiltrate public spaces and infect people. The game will throw plenty of obstacles toward you in the form of handwashing campaigns and the Worldwide Center for Disease Control. It won't be an easy task and it will require a great deal of strategizing on your part.
13 Betrayal At House On The Hill
This is an extremely addicting board game that takes about an hour or so to play through but odds are you'll want to play it more than once in a sitting. There are more than 50 different scenarios to encounter as you and your friends explore a creepy haunted house.
As you roll the dice and draw cards, you'll encounter monsters and ghosts and hidden secrets tucked away inside the house. Slowly you'll be able to add on new pieces and panels to the game board to draw you deeper into the mystery.
12 Paperback
If you enjoy Scrabble then you'll definitely want to try Paperback. It is a world-building a deck-building game where you get to add cards together to create the perfect novel to advance Paige Turner's career.
The words will be offered in various genres from Science Fiction to Romance and everything in between. The goal is to write and complete more novels than your opponents so you can come out on top and win the game.
11 Disney Villainous
Disney Villainous is a rather complicated adult board game that gives you the chance to play as your favorite Disney villains, such as Maleficent, the Queen of Hearts, and Jafar. The game is great for people who never outgrew their Disney phase and want to play a more challenging game that isn't necessarily just for kids.
Your goal will be to accomplish the villain's plan without being foiled by many of the heroes who can appear as obstacles on the board game. It's very detailed and full of well-crafted nuances and intriguing storylines.
10 Dastardly Dirigibles
How can you go wrong with a game that includes a short list of theme-appropriate insults to fling at your fellow players? This, along with the exceptional artwork, helps elevate this set-making game above its contemporaries. In part because of its poor ranking, this game has never sold well, so there are many copies available.
However, whenever the publisher, Fireside Games, brings it to conventions, people flock around and comment on how much they love this simple, fun game. Anyone who doesn't enjoy this game is a gormless whifflegig!
9 Snit's Revenge
This is an old game that has recently gotten a repackaging. Many of the old games you played as a kid don't hold up very well in repeated plays, but Snit's Revenge is the exception. The game comes packaged with its precursor, Snits, which isn't nearly as much fun, but Snit's Revenge is a hoot!
Most players play the tiny snits, who have rushed a giant bolotomus in an attempt to kick it to death from the inside... one organ at a time. All the organs have funny names, and just saying them puts a smile on your face. The game is fast-paced and tense. If all players know what they're doing the game often turns on a single die roll. The components are a little cheap, but it comes with a hilarious (and somewhat blasphemous) comic, and that is worth some money.
8 Diamonsters
Diamonsters is a simple game; you have to approach it with that understanding. It's a great game for playing with kids because the rules are simple: you're trying to collect a certain number of diamonds or three of a kind. At each play, every person picks one card to play. The best card wins, except there's a trump and if two or more people play the same card, they cancel out.
This is a simple set of rules, but you find yourself going through incredible mental gymnastics, trying to use your diminishing set of cards to best effect. It's a fun bluffing and second-guessing game.
7 Kaiju, Incorporated
This card game is built off the premise that gets alluded to in Pacific Rim: there's money to be made in kaiju products. But it's a dangerous business. Every player has to manage getting money and achieving research goals while avoiding kaiju attacks. Or, since attacks are inevitable, getting attacked by the right monsters.
This game is full of Easter eggs for old-school Godzilla fans, and the artwork is generally humorous. Several dynamics put you in direct competition with your fellow players, which makes for fun interactions. This is definitely an enjoyable game that is very underappreciated!
6 Carnival of Monsters
And if you're really interested in the monsters and not making money off their byproducts, then Carnival of Monsters is for you. This drafting game by Richard Garfield, the brilliant mind behind Magic: the Gathering, Bunny Kingdom, and RoboRally.
This game streamlines some of the concepts in MTG so you can focus on the thrill of collecting cool monsters. The drafting mechanism puts people in direct competition, which makes it fun. However, the real draw here is the beautifully illustrated monsters, which have a tremendous variety, including original creatures as well as those drawn from a wide variety of folklore.
5 Clue
Many classic board games don't fare well under the scrutiny of the Board Game Geeks. Often, this is justified (Monopoly plays like it was made for a society over 100 years removed from today), but some classic games get demoted without appreciation for what they offer.
Clue is the quintessential deduction game, but putting the clues in your opponents hands adds a little wrinkle, because people can bluff and hint in ways that throw off your guessing. The game does have one weakness in the fact that you have to roll to move, but a house rule that gives everyone fixed movement helps make the game faster and more balanced.
Did we mention that this board game inspired a certain beloved movie from 1985?
4 Dungeon!
The dungeon-crawling genre is one that has exploded tremendously in recent years (with Gloomhaven being the prime example), but Dungeon! preceded them all. The dynamic is simple: travel through the dungeon, enter rooms, fight random monsters, and collect random treasures.
Different classes are stronger against different monsters, and, in general, the stronger monsters have the most valuable treasures. The combat dynamic is easy for kids to understand, and the randomness levels the playing field. The art is engaging, though it varies with the edition. Games are about the right length, though they can seem too long if the dice and cards aren't going your way.
3 Munchkin
While Dungeon! is an early dungeon crawler, Munchkin is an early parody. The gags are hilarious for anyone who has played Dungeons & Dragons, and the basic game play is fast-paced enough that it's entertaining even if you've never played D&D.
The popularity of this game is incredible: it's spawned dozens (hundreds?) of spin-offs, expansions, and re-skins. Despite its popularity, this is a terribly underrated game. Perhaps it's cool to hate Munchkin, but the game's rich appeal is undeniable.
2 Batman Fluxx
There are many different versions of Fluxx, and most of them are under-rated. Fluxx is an interesting game of constantly changing rules, where you have to plan far ahead to be able to win--or you might just get lucky. Fluxx games aren't simply re-skins designed to make a quick buck.
Each version has dynamics that fit with the theme, and Batman is one of the more interesting. It's full of villains, and you can take them out or send them to Arkham Asylum. With art from the amazing Batman: The Animated Series, goals and rules built on the theme, and even the perfect font, this game is fun and beautiful.
1 Histrio
Unlike most games on this list, it's hard to figure out what the Geeks think is wrong with Histrio. Players each head a performing troupe that has to put on a comedy or tragedy according to the king's mood. Before performing players travel among the kingdom's 8 towns, recruiting actors and acrobats.
The play is simple, but the strategy can be complex. The art in this game is fabulous, and the gameplay is intriguing, as you try to manipulate the king and your fellow players to not only put on the best play, but to maximize benefit from secret goals. Games are short and fast-paced, a truly wonderful combination.