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Great board game for 3+ people. Best with a full crew. You and your mates explore a mansion. As you explore a new room you place a tile and something can happen.
It's meant to have a lot of replayability as each time you play there's a booklet full of potential end games that you can trigger. Such as the mansion is burning down and you need to escape.
I love the idea of that game. But in practice, I hate it.
Exploring the house is fun. And then the haunt usually ends up with a lopsided win. I can't remember a time where the haunt didn't feel like a forgone conclusion once revealed. Basically, I've never felt like I had any way to impact the outcome outside of potentially just throwing it.
Edit: in my mind, it's less of a game and more of an experience or story generator.
Ayy, I was going to mention this one. Crazy fun game.
Have you played the Legacy version of the game? I have and I would recommend it.
My absolute favourite is Spirit Island. A co-op game where you work together defending your island and kicking out explorers and settlers. Expanding your presence and getting new powers along the way. Every game with new combinations.
When we got the game we played this more than once every week for over a year. With each game taking 1-3hours with our playstyle. Sometimes longer with four players (but that's partly because of not actively playing the game then). We play less now only because of moving with the renovation taking too much time.
I love Spirit Island so much.
though usually unless folks are also as into complicated stuff as I am I end up playing horizons of Spirit Island for a simplified experience
Wingspan is really great plus it has stunning visuals too!
Have you tried Wyrmspan? It's an improved version with Dragons. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/410201/wyrmspan
Ticket to Ride. Building out your rail network is so satisfying.
Ahhh Ticket to Rage. My wife's family is not allowed to play that anymore.
This is mine too. I don't really like board games, but Ticket to Ride really clicked with me and I had a blast playing it. Will get it for myself but damn it's expensive (I guess that's a problem with board games in general, and I do see the value of the investment).
Clue.
What's your motive for liking it?
It’s complex yet very simple. Can be played by a small or large group easily. Teaches logic, reasoning, and deduction over “outscoring” your opponent. Being the dealer doesn’t give you any advantages if you play it right. And because of all the various permutations of the cards, it’s always a new game each time vs a number of set scenarios/strategies.
Mancala, if that counts.
Single favourite is hard to pick.
Casual: I agree, Ludo is GOAT.
Invested: Catan..... Maybe Scrabble
Dumb fun: Mad magazine game
Call to Adventure, Wingspan/Wyrmspan, most of the Tiny Epic series, Coup are all solid contenders.
I like the Red Raven games but I don't really look forward to playing them because of all the set up and tear down lol, I would love them as digital products with automation.
I absolutely love Wingspan. Should I also get Wyrmspan, or would I be better off getting the last expansion or two I'm missing from Wingspan? We also love the Tiny Epic series, but we couldn't really get our group into Coup unfortunately
I like Wyrmspan because it shakes up the mechanics, but to be perfectly honest I just love dragons more than birds so the art alone practically sold me on it lol
My partner and I prefer dragons as well. I don't mean to keep bothering you but I have a couple of questions if you don't mind
1.) Are they all different dragons with little trivia tidbits like the birds?
2.) Do you know if it plays well at two players? We really appreciated the Asia expansion for catering to that specifically
No bother at all! They are all different dragons with wonderful original art, but the cards don't have trivia. There is a "dragons facts sheet" thing that's included just as flavour.
Might not be the best person to answer the latter, as my partner and I played an absolute crap ton of Wingspan just the two of us and thought it played fine enough, even without the Asia expansion.
Solo: Mage Knight
2 player: Star Trek Fleet Captains
4 player: Shadows of Brimstone
Stupid-fun dice chucker for 4 or 5: Project Elite
That is easy to answer for me.
Mansion of madness
I have played so many rounds with so many different people. The game is complex enough that each round is different. But easy enough to geht people to start with. Easy to play hard to master.
The digital game master via APP is great. I had so many games in which the last player actions decided the game. After some hours of game time. Your actions feel so impactful.
The ones I usually carry around to introduce people to good boardgames are: Hive Portable it can get as complicated as chess, but is really easy to pick up for kids and adults. Carcassonne chill and you can pick and choose expansions Forbidden Island (and its family) it's a fun cooperative game that's easy for kids to pick up.
Heroquest.
After being hyped up by the commercial, I was severely disappointed in the broadsword.
so many good options on here already so I'll add one that's a little more of a dedicated game:
Arkham lcg.
you create a deck that represents the character you will play in a series of approximately eight games where you cooperatively work through Lovecraftian mysteries loaded with interesting stories lore and twists.
has almost a tabletop RPG feel to it if it was converted to a card game, absolutely love it.
I really enjoy Root, but it can end up taking a little while to get through.
Backgammon
Dixit is one of my favorites, and very fun to play with a group of people you know well. Sort of like Pictionary with cards instead of drawing, but you try to only get one person to guess correctly.
Small World was my introduction into alternative board games, and still one of my favorites to help introduce new board games to people who have only played Monopoly.
Labyrinth - if you've never played it, all the players are moving around a maze collecting items on cards they draw from a deck. Whoever collects them all first wins. You can move as far as you want each turn, but the catch is you first change the maze (the whole board being made of movable tiles), then move your totem. It encouraged complicated spacial reasoning and leaves room for sabotage of other players. Any number of players can play; you can even solitaire it if you want.
Cameroon. It's like a mix of air hockey and pool.
I wish I had an actual board still... I only have it via 52 Clubhouse Games on switch. I find it much more fun when you're actually flicking the pieces with your finger.
Cosmic Encounter
No two games are ever the same. So are the attempts to lure people in and out of encounters, and the following betrayels. Great fun.
Love Cosmic, any time people are coming round I try to lure them into a game. Too bad my regular group got derailed by someone buying Gloomhaven
Unfathomable hands down.
It requires 3-6 people for well over two hours (longest was around 5h).
Constant attacks from the sea creatures trying to destroy your ship. With traitors.
But it's so engaging and fun. There is enough depth for replayability, lots of variation, there is always something happening, and players interact a lot, so there aren't boring parts just watching someone go off with their turn.
There was recently an expansion, adding lots of variety and more depth.
Almost everyone who played once wanted to try it again. If you can find people who have the time, they will not walk away until it's over. And will think about how to play differently the next time.
I treat Chinese checkers with the same reverence and over-seriousness that chess players have towards chess. I'm not especially good at it, but I really enjoy it.
I like Root, its like an asymmetric Risk.
Sequence is a favorite of mine.
Silver
I have WAY more games than I should, and I have so many better games, but Silver is the one that my wife and I have played more than ALL the others put together.
Technically, we play what we call Super Silver, which is using all the cards from every expansion (except a few we hate) and don't shuffle them back in between rounds. The game ends after four rounds or the deck is gone.
It's just easy to pick up and go, and random enough that every game is a little different.
I’ve had the most fun with Burgle Bros
Pictionary
Outsmarted. Technically a board game but with an app.
It’s actually not the gimmick I thought it would be! Cast that bad boy to the tv and you’ve got a game show in the family room!
Mysterium among others already mentioned. Very similar core mechanic to dixit, but co-op and some what longer/more expansive.