It’s no secret that I love board games, and anyone who has seen my board game wall at my house can attest to the ungodly amount of money I’ve spent on it through the years. However, it’s not something I regret; some of the best times I’ve spent with friends have been playing board games together. Yes, even I need to look away from a screen and interact with people in the real world, sometimes.
Lately, though, I’ve been talking more about board games to people who have yet to experience the hobby beyond the atrocious game of Monopoly or the seemingly never-ending game of Risk. However, none of these people are strangers to games, and all of them have said they’ve wanted to play board games over the years – but don’t know where to start.
With that knowledge, I’ve compiled a list of the board games I feel are the easiest to transition to if you’ve only ever played video games. I’ve also paired them together so that you can figure out which board game you would enjoy as a fan of Stardew Valley or Project Zomboid. I hope you enjoy it and that it can guide you into the hobby while helping you feel less like a fish out of water and overwhelmed.
Mansions Of Madness: Second Edition
For Gamers Who Enjoy Call Of Cthulhu
Players: 1-5
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy a Lovecraftian / Cthulhu horror theme.
For its oversized box and all its pieces and complexity, Mansions of Madness might be the easiest and smoothest game to transition to if you’re a video gamer looking to branch out. For starters, the game feels familiar. It’s a setting that’s been explored in video games repeatedly.
But the main reason it’s such a great transition game is because of the companion app. Mansions of Madness is played half on the table and half through the free companion app. This app does everything from narrating the story and playing mood music to controlling the game’s flow, offering interactive video game-like puzzles to solve and keeping track of combat damage, so you don’t have to.
The game is fully cooperative; players will collect weapons, tools, and information. They’ll also solve complex puzzles and fight monsters, insanity, and death. There are a lot of parts to Mansions of Madness, and it’s a meatier game. Still, when it arrives on the table, it can transform the room and bring both the video game and board game mediums to life.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps and Veeps
The Initiative
For Gamers Who Enjoy The Room
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy games that reward you for your intellectual prowess and observation.
Much like how there really isn’t another video game quite like The Room, there also isn’t another board game quite like The Initiative. Players take on the role of teenagers in 1994 who have found a mysterious board game called “The Key”. Not only will they play The Key, but players will help the teens through a pivotal chapter of their lives by following a series of missions linked together via an interactive comic book.
This is a game I’ve played over countless sittings, and it’s set up to be played as I type. Yet, it still has the ability to stump me entirely and have me feeling like a complete noob until I manage to crack the code and then feel like the most intelligent person to have ever been alive.
I won’t go into more details for fear of spoiling what shouldn’t be spoiled, but if you enjoy the thrill of solving puzzles, this game will blow you away. The actual board game part of things is straightforward. Even if you’ve never picked up a board game, you should be able to play this without breaking a sweat.
The challenge comes with solving the puzzles and cracking the codes. But if you take the time to focus, and bring out a pen and a notebook, the rush of endorphins when you finally crack it will be unlike any other board game out there.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Isle Of Cats
For Gamers Who Enjoy Tetris
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy having differently shaped pieces that you must position just right to maximise your score.
Isle of Cats is a stand-out game in my collection, with nothing else feeling quite like it. It’s also fast become a fan favourite in my house, with friends asking to bring it to the table almost every game day. It’s a competitive game combining many gameplay styles, from card drafting to polyomino placement.
Players take on the role of citizens of Squalls End on a rescue mission to The Isle of Cats. You aim to rescue as many cats as possible before the evil Lord Vesh arrives. Each cat is represented by a uniquely shaped tile and belongs to a family. Players must find a way to make them all fit on their boat while keeping families together.
While the game might sound complicated, strip it down to basics, and you’re left with what is essentially Tetris. If you’ve always enjoyed the thrill of finding that perfect piece you need to fill in the gap, then Isle of Cats is the game for you. Trust me.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Descent: Legends of the Dark
For Gamers Who Enjoy Elder Scrolls Online
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy fantasy-themed roleplaying games where everyone in the party has a role and needs to play off of each other to succeed.
Descent: Legends of the Dark often receives criticism online for feeling too much like a video game. If that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, nothing will. Much like Mansions of Madness, I mentioned previously on this list, Descent: Legends of the Dark also plays with a companion app that brings the game to life.
This is my favourite board game, and if I could only keep one of my games, this would be it. It’s a cooperative dungeon-crawling board game that puts players in the shoes of budding heroes with their own playstyle and abilities.
The magic of Descent: Legends of the Dark is woven into every fibre of its being. While playing, various terrain will be set up on the board. Think chests, trees, bookshelves etc. Using the app, players can then choose to interact with this terrain exactly how they would in a video game. Players will also collect loot and return to town to shop, craft, and upgrade.
It’s hard to imagine that any game can perfectly capture the essence of a game like Elder Scrolls Online. Yet, that is precisely what Descent: Legends of the Dark manages to do.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Chronicles of Crime
For Gamers Who Enjoy LA Noir
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy the thrill of interviewing perps and figuring out which questions are essential and which answers are lies.
I’ve always loved games like LA Noir that don’t hold your hand and instead trust you to know which questions must be asked and which answers should be followed. That is precisely what Chronicles of Crime delivers.
At its core, Chronicles of Crime is a cooperative game of crime investigation, mixing an app, a board game and a touch of Virtual Reality. There is something so exhilarating about travelling to various locations and figuring out which leads to follow and which threads to chase.
Mechanically, the game is simple enough that anyone should be able to pick it up and have a good time regardless of their familiarity with board games. The game is played by scanning QR codes on cards to initiate either investigation or conversation, and it’s up to players to figure out how to proceed through the case.
The twist, however, is that each card that gets scanned takes time, and players only have a certain amount of time to spend before solving the case. It’s a brilliant time management system that helps the game from ever feeling drawn out and instead inspires a sense of urgency that never relents.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Dead Of Winter: A Crossroads Game
For Gamers Who Enjoy Project Zomboid
Players: 2-5
You’ll enjoy it if: You had that itch that Project Zomboid scratched.
Who can forget the overnight obsession that was Project Zomboid? The game seemingly came from nowhere, and before it had even left beta, players worldwide were totally and utterly obsessed. One of the things people seemed to love about Project Zomboid over the countless other Zombie games on the market was how deep it was and how many things they had to manage.
Dead Of Winter: A Crossroads Game isn’t even fractionally as layered and complex as Project Zomboid; however, it does scratch that same management/juggling itch that many players had, and that’s why I think it’s the perfect game to try. At its core, Dead of Winter is a game that tests survivors’ ability to work together and stay alive while facing crises and challenges from both outside and inside.
The game puts players in a small, weakened colony of survivors in a world where most of humanity is either dead or diseased, flesh-craving monsters. Players are working together toward one joint victory. Still, for each individual player to achieve victory, they must also complete their secret personal objective.
Meaning games could end with all players winning, some winning and some losing, or all players losing. It’s a wonderful game with players making frequent and heavily-thematic decisions that often have them deciding between what’s best for the colony and for themselves.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Zombicide
For Gamers Who Enjoy Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood
Players: 1-6
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy the thrill of zombie games and trying to make it out alive with your friends.
There is no denying it; Zombie games are some of the most fun. From everyone’s old-school LAN go to Left 4 Dead to the newer Back 4 Blood, Zombie games are alive and thriving, unlike the ones they feature.
Zombicide is the single most loved Zombie board game around. It puts players in the shoes of a survivor who must harness their skills and rely on teamwork to survive against the horror of the undead.
Players will find weapons throughout the game, but unfortunately, there will always be more Zombies than they have bullets. Killing Zombies is not without consequence either; the more zombies you kill, the more skilled you get; the more skilled you get, the more zombies appear. And that’s Zombicide.
If you’re a Zombie game fan looking for a game to play cooperatively with your friends, you won’t go wrong with Zombicide. Not only is the game great and unforgiving, but the production quality is terrific, and there is more than enough content to keep you and your friends bust for many gaming sessions to come.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Overboss: A Boss Monster Adventure
For Gamers Who Enjoy Super Mario
Players: 1-5
You’ll enjoy it if: You’re not looking for a board game to sweep you off your feet or reinvent the whole medium, all you want is to have fun. And fun is something Overboss has in spades.
Overboss is a fast-paced game that combines everything from drafting to set collection. It’s set in a retro-inspired pixel art world in which Boss Monsters have emerged to conquer the Overworld.
Each turn, players draft and place terrain tiles and monster tokens. They aim to craft the map with the most incredible Power and become the ultimate Overboss. Players will build their map by drafting Forests, Swamps, Caves, Camps, Graveyards, Dungeon Entrances and other landscapes. Each terrain type has a different point value and some increase in Power as you acquire larger sets.
Players must balance optimal placement and set values and disrupt their opponents’ sets. Overboss is a game that sounds more complicated than it is, and once you know how to play it, it can bring hours and hours of fun.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Gloomhaven
For Gamers Who Enjoy World Of Warcraft
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy long, epic games filled to the brim with lore for you to get invested in.
Gloomhaven is a game that’s so large, vast, and sprawling that it’s hard to quantify it into a tiny summary. Players will take on the role of wandering adventurers who has their own unique set of skills and their own reasons for travelling to this dark corner of the world.
Players must work together to clear out menacing dungeons and forgotten ruins. In the process, they will enhance their abilities with experience and loot, discover new locations to explore and plunder, and expand an ever-branching story fueled by their decisions.
Gloomhaven is not a beginner-friendly game; it is a game with a persistent and changing world played over many game sessions. After a scenario, players will decide what to do, which will determine how the story continues, sort of like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book.
Gloomhaven lets the players shape the story and the world. If you love adventuring with your party through games like World Of Warcraft but wish you had more control over the world, this is definitely the game for you.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Nemesis
For Gamers Who Enjoy Pray Or Alien: Isolation
Players: 1-5
You’ll enjoy it if: You’ve been looking for a board game with all the thrill and drama, and atmosphere of a video game.
Nemesis lockdown might be one of the best sci-fi horror games ever created. And no, I didn’t limit that statement to just board games, but games overall. Everything about it is excellent.
However, one thing Nemesis is not is accessible. If you’re reading this list and looking for your first board game, Nemesis is not for you. However, if you’ve already played your fair share of games and understand how they work, man, are you in for a treat with this game.
Nemesis puts players in the middle of a sci-fi survival horror where scientists, soldiers, aliens and traitors exist. The game is designed so that the longer the game goes on, the stronger the aliens you encounter will be.
It’s a semi-cooperative game where you and your crewmates must survive on a ship infested with these aliens. To win, you have to complete one of the two objectives dealt to you at the start of the game and get back to Earth in one piece. The production quality is out of this world, the gameplay is smooth and fluid, and the game is as brutal and unforgiving as hardcore gamers would want it to be.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Stardew Valley: The Board Game
For Gamers Who Enjoy Stardew Valley
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy slower-paced, cosy-style games like Stardew Valley.
When you talk to someone who doesn’t play board games, they’ll often bring up games from their childhood like Monopoly or Risk and stress that the games were too long and not for them. Unfortunately, actual cooperative games aren’t something many people get exposed to before deciding to write off board games altogether.
Stardew Valley: The Board Game is a cooperative game of farming and friendship based on the Stardew Valley video game. Players will work together to save the Valley from the nefarious JojaMart Corporation – much like in the video game.
To do this, players must farm, fish and find resources to help restore the community centre while raising animals, exploring the mine and protecting Stardew Valley. The game is highly thematic and pulls more than a bit of influence from the Stardew Valley video game, but it’s also more than just a good-looking clone; it’s also fun to play and the perfect option for people who want to play together, not against each other.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game
For Gamers Who Enjoy Cuphead
Players: 1-4
You’ll enjoy it if: You enjoy playing Cuphead or have a high tolerance for frustration.
One of the biggest draws to Cuphead: Fast Rolling Dice Game is how accessible it is to people who may not be familiar with board games but want to start somewhere. Essentially all you’re doing is rolling dice like a crazy person, hoping you roll what you need before the timer runs out.
Sure, there is more to the game, but it’s delivered slowly, giving you plenty of time to get used to the basics before things get added on. The game features the same classic style of 1930s art, and it captures the heart and soul of the side-scrolling, run-and-gun video game.
While I wouldn’t recommend this game if you don’t like games that are almost entirely luck based, for anyone who doesn’t mind and for fans of the video game I would say this is a must-play.
Where you can find it locally: Meeps & Veeps
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What do you think of this list? Have you played any of the games mentioned? Let us know down below.