Over the last year or so, I’ve often brought up my love for all things dark, gory and scary. I’ve also spoken about my love for comics, collectables, and video games. Still, if we are being honest, there is another reason why I’m broke, and that reason is board games. From Dungeons and Dragons to Decent and Gloomhaven, I’ve played (and probably own) them all.
After much debate and reflection, I’ve decided that 2023 will be the year I stop being broke… alone. Instead, I’m going to introduce you, poor reader, to the magical and fantastical world of board games so that we can regret our financial choices together while sitting around a table, enjoying a game or two or three with some good and equally broke friends.
So without further adieu, here is my ultimate guide to where you should start looking if you’ve ever thought about playing a board game that isn’t the dreaded Monopoly. Enjoy.
Settlers of Catan
It’s like Monopoly but so much better
Players: 3-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy the dice rolling and cutthroat mechanics of Monopoly but want to play a solid game
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t believe Catan to be a brilliant game. It’s one I hardly reach for anymore. However, that’s because of how much I used to play Catan when first getting into board games, and if the game is excellent at anything, it’s teaching a whole bunch of mechanics and logic that other games require.
In Catan, players try to be the dominant force on the island of Catan by building settlements, cities, and roads. On each turn, dice are rolled to determine what resources the island produces.
A turn of Catan consists of possibly playing a development card, rolling the dice, and collecting resource cards based on the role and position of houses. Points are accumulated by building settlements and cities, having the longest road and the largest army and gathering certain development cards that award victory points. Players who have collected 10 points announce their total and claim the win.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps and Veeps for between R470 – R1450 depending.
Ticket to Ride
It’s like falling in love for the first time
Players: 2-5
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy playing your own solo game while also inadvertently screwing up the plans of those around you
During my entire childhood, I heard people go on and on about gateway drugs. I never truly understood what they meant before I played Ticket to Ride. Ticket to Ride is a gateway game, every bit as life-consuming as heroin. If you’re not interested in becoming a full-blown board gamer, I suggest you stay away.
Ticket to Ride is elegantly simple and can quickly be learnt from scratch in under 10 minutes. Players collect cards of various types of train cars they then use to claim railway routes. The longer the routes, the more points they earn. Additional points come to those who fulfil Destination Tickets, goal cards connecting distant cities, and the player who builds the longest continuous route.
Ask any board gamer about the “train game”, and they’re bound to light up with excitement about the game that made them fall in love with the medium – it’s just that good.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps for between R360 – R1130 depending.
Azul
It’s like Candy Crush in real-life
Players: 2-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy mobile games and their mechanics
Sometimes you feel like playing something, but you aren’t in the mood to explain many rules and exceptions to your group, and they aren’t in the mood to listen anyway. That’s when you take out Azul, a game as easy to grasp and as fun to play as it is beautiful.
In Azul, players will take turns drafting coloured tiles from supplies to their player board. Players will then score points based on how they’ve placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; wasted supplies harm the player’s score. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
My mother despises board games with a passion, and yet because of how similar Azul feels to a mobile game, it’s the one game she will never say no to playing. [Ed: wait….your mom plays mobile games?]
Where you can find it locally: Meeps and Veeps for between R210 – R970 depending.
Munchkin
It’s like Dungeons and Dragons For Dummies (also, it’s nothing like Dungeons and Dragons)
Players: 3-6
You’ll enjoy it if: You want the whole experience of fighting dragons in dungeons but without having to keep track of things, write things down or roleplay
Ever wanted the experience of bursting into an unsuspecting dungeon, killing everything you encounter there – no questions asked, all while stabbing your friends in the back to steal their stuff? Well, then, Munchkin is the game for you.
At its core, Munchkin aims to capture the essence of a roleplaying game without any roleplaying. You and your friends will compete to kill monsters and grab magic items, and the first player to reach Dungeon level 10 wins. Simple as that.
There are two types of cards in Munchkin, treasure and encounters. Each turn, the current players draw an encounter card from the deck. Other players can then help the player or hinder by adding extra monsters to the encounter. Defeating a monster will usually result in drawing treasure cards and acquiring levels. Being defeated by the monster results in bad stuff, which usually involves losing levels and treasure.
It’s hard not to enjoy Munchkin while just getting started in the magical world of board games. The game is fast and silly and introduces many card-based mechanics used in other, more serious games.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps for between R360 – R720 depending.
Sheriff of Nottingham
It’s like playing the childhood game of Cheat, but as an adult
Players: 3-6
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy seeing how well you can lie and bluff your way out of trouble and picking up on the tells of those around you.
When playing the Sheriff of Nottingham, there are two goals and two goals only. As the Sheriff, your goal is to make sure none of the filthy, lying merchants are smuggling contraband into your kingdom. As one of the aforementioned merchants, your goal is to ensure the Sheriff doesn’t catch you.
Players will take turns playing the Sheriff, looking for contraband goods. The rest of the players will be the Merchants trying to stock their stalls with the best goods. The Sheriff can inspect any bag they want, but they must be careful, as they’ll have to pay the penalty if they find the Merchants were telling the truth.
There is nothing tricky about Sheriff of Nottingham outside of trying to pull one over your friends round after round. It’s an easy-to-explain and easy-to-learn game that is never not fun to play with a group – regardless of the ages of those at the table.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps for R890
BONUS ROUND:
Bohnanza
It’s like living out your best farmer dreams without having to actually go outside
Players: 3-7
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy trading, wheeling and dealing and collecting.
This is a game of endless fun that can appeal to a broad audience, despite its rough and unpolished art style. In Bohnanza, players will plant and harvest bean cards to earn coins, and the game’s object is to have the most coins.
However, what sets the game aside from other card games is that you can’t rearrange the order of cards in hand, so whatever order they enter your hand is the order they need to stay – unless you change your hand order by trading with friends (and enemies) at the table which is the heart of the game.
Bohnanza is a highly social game with a lot of interaction between the players. You won’t go wrong here if you’re looking for a game that’s sure to have your group all talking, shouting and laughing.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps for R540
Fluxx
It’s like living in a world where absolute chaos is the norm and the rules change in the blink of an eye
Players: 2-6
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy games that can result in a crushing and swift victory and domination over everyone else at the table… provided the stars align.
Fluxx is one of the most fantastic card-based games for newcomers and veterans. It’s fast, engaging, ever-changing and highly portable. Essentially Fluxx is a game where the cards that are played determine the current rules of the game.
By playing cards, core aspects of the game are changing, and your goal is to try and spin these changes in a way that suits you while messing with your opponents. The starting rules of the game are always the same: draw one card, play one card, and then everything snowballs from there.
Oh, and Fluxx is available in many various flavours. From Star Trek to Adventure Time to Old Movie Monsters – there is a themed Fluxx for everyone.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps for R250 – R460 depending
What do you think of this list? Have you played any of the games mentioned? Let us know down below.